(Note – If you’re new to my page, this is how it works: At the beginning of each week I randomly draw a new project from my Challenge Bucket, then see what I can create before the week is over. You can read all about my Creativity Challenge here.)
About a month ago we had the joy of celebrating Father’s Day. My oldest son, Malachi, came to me a week beforehand to discuss gift ideas for John. We sat in the office and threw out a variety of ideas when Malachi noticed the wooden plaque with a dragon carved into it hanging next to John’s computer. “What about something with a dragon?” he asked.
You see, John has loved dragons since before I knew him. He loved to draw them in high school, he loves the fantasy games that include them, and he loves his orange dragon-clad tie-dyed shirt he’s had since high school (yes, he’s had it since the 90’s and it probably should have stayed there).
“What about a dragon decal for his computer?” I suggested. We decided that this was a great idea and began looking online for something we could order. We found nothing. “What about using my Cricut to make our own?” I asked, “That way we could custom fit it to his computer.”
This seemed perfect. I confess I’d never used anything other than paper with my Cricut, but I still had a few days to figure it out. So, the next time I was out running errands I stopped at Michaels to purchase some vinyl – removable, of course, in case he hated it. After analyzing the different products and remaining in indecision for far too long, I ended up purchasing an adhesive foil variety pack. This way we’d have a few different metallic colors to choose from.
And that is where this story took an intermission. I never ended up having time to complete the project, so on Father’s Day when the kids presented their other gifts we could only tell John our idea for the dragon decal. Even though it wasn’t ready yet, he loved the idea!
Fast forward to this week and I, shamefully, still hadn’t made the decal. So when I pulled out this week’s Creativity Challenge it was obvious what the perfect project would be, because the challenge was… “Cricut vinyl something.”
As I had mentioned above, I had never cut anything other than paper on my Cricut. While I’ve used it mostly for Sunday School bulletin boards and kids’ crafts, I’ve watched my friends create dozens of other amazing projects on their own machines, often using vinyl. I always thought I should try it (which is why I put the task in the Challenge Bucket in the first place).
All that to say, this was the week where I’d finally complete my husband’s Father’s Day gift! I already had the materials and had found a dragon silhouette image that he approved of. I showed him the various metallic colors and he had chosen silver. I pulled everything out… then searched for the wrapper with the directions on it.
I opened the Cricut computer program, loaded the image, then measured John’s computer. Then I re-measured. Then I read the directions again. Then I measured again. Then I read the directions again. I really didn’t want to screw this up!
Finally satisfied that I understood what I was doing, it was time to load up the page and print it out. I figured out how to set the right cutting depth, wondered if I should do a small test cut, decided I’d rather just hope for the best, and put the machine into motion.
It’s so fun to watch the Cricut do it’s thing, especially on more detailed cuts. It’s amazing! Within minutes it had precisely cut out the dragon to the perfect depth, leaving the backing unscathed.
The next step was to weed out the sections around the decal, then use transfer paper to remove the decal from the backing. I didn’t have any transfer paper, but had read that Con-Tact paper worked quite well. I fished out a roll from my craft stash and cut off a piece. I smoothed it over top of the decal then attempted to remove the decal’s backing. This part got a little tricky as the decal was more attached to its backing than it was to my Con-Tact paper. I grabbed a tool to assist me, then slowly and meticulously pushed the decal onto the Contact paper as I pulled off the backing. It was tricky, but it did work!
I breathed a sigh of relief when I removed the final bit of backing and the decal was still intact. That meant there was just one last step: transfer the decal onto the computer and find out if I measured correctly!
John watched as I carefully placed the sheet, trying to adhere it in the correct position on the first try. I smoothed it out, removed the Contact paper and… voila!
I nailed the placement, the Contact paper came off perfectly, and, I must say, it looked super cool! But the best part about this was that John LOVED it!
I am so glad it turned out. I know it’s late, but…
Happy Father’s Day John!
Something I realized after completing this project, is that the material I ended up choosing was not called “vinyl” at all. Because I wanted the metallic look I chose what was called “adhesive foil.” I think the procedure is the same for both materials, so I’m pretty sure I learned the correct technique. However, I may need to try out some vinyl, for real, in the future! 🙂
Thanks for checking out my project this week!
That looks so cool. Great job.
Thanks Michelle!:)