Last weekend, I was getting ready to go to a Halloween party when I realized I had nothing to wear! I don’t have any cute halloween clothes- how is that possible? I love themed and festive things. So at the last minute I wanted to make something fun and I came up with this adorable shirt! In total the project took me less than 30 minutes and then I was off to the party, appropriately festive. And the shirt was a hit!

I did this project using my Cricut Explore Air, which is quickly becoming my favorite craft tool. I used it to make my adorable studio sign for my office that I absolutely love. And now this shirt is so amazingly easy to make with such great results. What’s not to love?

I was a bit nervous to try using iron-on vinyl, but it went really well. For my first time using iron-on vinyl I think I did a pretty good job! I used this tutorial from Rae Gun Ramblings to figure out what to do.

Alright- who’s ready to craft? I’ll walk you step by step how to make this shirt, and you can even download the design I used for free to make your own boo shirt!

tools and supplies:

• Cricut Explore Air
• Iron on Vinyl (You can also get awesome vinyl here)
• T-shirt
• Iron
• Cricut tools (optional)

step one: download file

Click the image to download the file!

This step is pretty self explanatory! Just click the image above to download the file you need to make this shirt. My favorite part is the little ghost.

The image is backwards- but don’t worry, that’s on purpose. When you cut iron-on vinyl you cut it backwards because the underside ends up becoming the front of the design.

step two: import image to cricut design studio

Launch your cricut design studio and start a new project. You’ll want to upload the image, and you can do this by clicking the upload image tab on the left. Them press the “upload image” button.

The upload will ask you what type of image it is, and you should select simple image. Next you will click through the select and erase and press next. Because the file is in .png format, the image is already transparent and you wont need to remove the background.

The images below show you what this process looks like:

step three: insert image to cricut design studio

Now that you’ve uploaded your image, you’ll want to insert it into your design studio so you can make the cut!

Click on the image you uploaded, and click insert images. You’ll want to resize the image to your desired size. I made mine 11″ by 7.48″, because I wanted a large design. You can size it to fit your shirt.

Step four: prepare your mat

Now that your design is ready, you’ll want to prepare your mat. You’ll want to place your vinyl front side down. The back side will look much duller and you should be able to tell the difference, as you can see in the photo below.

Make sure you have enough vinyl for the size you selected in the previous step.

Once your mat is prepared, you can load it into the Cricut machine. Make sure to set your dial to “iron on vinyl.”

step five: cut and peel

Now you’re ready to cut! If you press the green circle that says “go” in Cricut design studio, it will show you a preview of your design. Approve the preview and then press the flashing “go” on the machine once you are ready to cut.

When the cut is finished, you can peel away the excess vinyl to leave your design behind.

step six: weed

When you peeled away the vinyl, the smaller pieces on the inside of letters and the ghost eyes did not come up. It’s time to “weed” those out. You can use the cricut weeder to do this- or possibly a toothpick. Just push along the edge and the vinyl should pop up.

step seven: iron on

Once you’ve got the design how you want it, you’re ready to iron it on! You will leave the plastic on the front of the vinyl to iron over.

Place your design right side up on the shirt where you want it to be located. You’ll want to use a setting for cotton on your iron without water.

I put some cardboard between the top and the bottom to keep the shirt stiff and easy to iron. Then iron away for several minutes until you are confident the vinyl has attached to the shirt. And now you’re done! Just peel away the plastic and you’re ready to go!

Woohoo- you’re done!

I love this shirt because it’s cute and festive. I can’t get over how cute the ghost exclamation point is. I’m so glad I added it- it’s the small details that really make a big difference in the final design.

And who doesn’t love a little sparkle?

I honestly can’t believe how easy it was to make this shirt. I feel like I should customize all the shirts I own now… but I won’t go that crazy.

But at least now I know I can make something pretty quickly at the last minute!

And the important part is, Biscuit approves. He even got his hair all over it. Why do I ever wear black clothes?

But who could say no to that adorable face?

All in all, one of my favorite cricut projects to date. I feel like I’m getting the hang of it now so you can expect more fun cricut tutorials from me! I might even have a little holiday idea up my sleeve… I can’t wait to share it.

But for now, I’m loving my boo shirt!

What do you think? Are you ready to make your shirt?

supplies used in this post:

The post DIY Halloween Boo Shirt appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

When I got my Cricut Explore Air I was so excited with all the possibilities! There were (and still are) so many things I want to make. One of the first things I knew I wanted to make was a sign for my office/ craft room. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out- especially because it ended up being one of the easiest projects ever!

I wanted the sign to reflect my personality and blog design, so that meant sticking with my color scheme of mint and navy. The sign is the highlight of the wall, but the wall also features polka dot decals, which is what made me want to make it round. In all- I really couldn’t be happier with it. I think I just have a love of customized signs ever since the ones I made for our wedding!

I played with a lot of different ideas for the sign lettering- different fonts and phrases. And Procrastination Studio seemed to be the perfect name for my workspace. If you couldn’t tell just from the name of my blog- I am a bit of a procrastination expert.

So after a big response from sharing my sign on social media I decided to finally write a post about it! Keep reading for step by step instructions on how I made this adorable and easy sign on the Cricut.

Supplies:

• A Cricut cutting machine (I use the Cricut Explore Air)
• Cricut mat
• Vinyl 
• Vinyl transfer tape
• Wood sign (I used this one)
• Craft paint
• Paint brush
• Mod Podge (optional)
• Cricut tools (optional)

Step One: Paint sign back

Pick out whatever color you want your sign back to be and paint your sign that color. I mixed a mint color with white to get a lighter color and painted my sign using a simple paint brush with craft paint. Let it dry in between coats.

I also used mod podge over the paint to give it a glossier finish, but this is totally optional.

Step Two: Design Sign

The first step is to design your sign. Decide what words you want the sign to say, and pick out fonts. You can do this on Cricut design space, or on a photo editing program. A .png file is the best format to upload to Cricut design space in my experience, because the transparent areas will be treated like empty space.

When you upload an image into cricut design space, you can “select and erase” out the white space. This will tell the machine where to cut. Don’t forget to select the spaces inside letters, like the circle inside the letter “o.”

Make sure your layer is set to cut.

(If you’re a cricut newbie and this sounds confusing to you, I previously wrote a more detailed post with pictures you can refer to).

Step Three: Cut vinyl on cricut

Once you have your design ready, you’ll want to cut your vinyl. Stick the vinyl onto your cutting mat, load the mat into the machine, and press cut!

When the vinyl is cut, you want to peel or “weed” off the excess vinyl, leaving only the letters you want to transfer. You can use the cricut weeder to get out the small pieces, like the insides of letters.

Step Four: Apply vinyl with transfer tape

I’ve given the instructions here for using transfer tape- but if you want to see step by step pictures on how to use transfer tape, I have a detailed how to you can refer to in a previous post

Peel off the back of the transfer tape, and place the sticky part on top of your design. Use a credit card or a scraper tool to scrape the design to make sure the vinyl is well-adhered to the transfer tape. Slowly peel the transfer tape up. The vinyl letters should come up, but if they don’t, just replace the tape and scrape over the top again. This may take a few tries.

When you’ve got the design on the transfer tape, align the tape onto your sign where you want it to go. Press down firmly, and you can use a credit card or scraper here again. Slowly peel away the transfer tape, and the design should stick to your sign. If it doesn’t stick down, put the tape back down and rub again.

Then your sign should be finished! I told you this was easy!

Step Five: Hang

Now your sign is ready to go! You can hang it up. I’m a huge fan of the command hanging strips, and I used those to hang this sign.

And now just step back and admire!

This was my first lettering project with the cricut, and it went really well! The sign turned out EXACTLY how I imagined. You may recognize the above photo from my about me page.

I mean seriously, who DOESN’T want a procrastination studio?

The sign is definitely the highlight of the office. I’ll be doing a full office reveal sometime soon so you get to see the whole thing! But the combination of the polka dots with my sign is by far my favorite part of the office.

Which is my favorite room of the house.

I love how it looks hanging in my office. It makes me smile every time I see it!

My office is definitely my procrastination studio- I spend most of my time in there procrastinating- making crafts, organizing, editing photos, painting watercolors… you name it.

What are you waiting for? Let me know how making your own sign on the Cricut goes for you!

Supplies used in this post

The post Easy DIY Sign Lettering: Cricut Project appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

Happy December! Nothing like the scent of gingerbread to get you in the holiday mood! A good scented candle can certainly do the job. Unfortunately, artificial scents are not very desirable for your health or the environment.

Most of the chemicals in synthetic fragrances are derived from petroleum. The chemicals  range from causing allergic reactions to being hormone disruptors to potential carcinogens. Did you ever get a headache from an artificial fragrance? I know I have.

Luckily, you can still get yummy scents without the negative effects! Enter, essential oils!

Essential oils are extracted from plants. They are essentially concentrated aroma compounds, so they have a strong scent. Essential oils are also used for other purposes, as some are anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anti fungal, etc. This gingerbread candle is scented entirely with essential oils, and it smells just like the real thing.

If you do decide to buy a scented candle from the store that claims to be natural, look out for it saying it is 100% scented with essential oils. Any other claims can still contain artificial fragrances.

So let’s get to the candle making!

What you’ll need:

• Candle wax (I use soy)
• Wicks
• Cinnamon (optional)
• Ginger root essential oil
• Vanilla absolute oil
• Cinnamon essential oil
• Nutmeg or Clove essential oil
• A double boiler or makeshift double boiler
• Glass jars

Trust me, it’s easy!

Step One. Prepare Wicks

Tape your wicks to the bottom of the glass jars. I use masking tape but other types of tape should work fine.

Optional Pre-Step Two. Heat jars

Heat your jars in the oven on the lowest setting. This helps make sure the wax hardens evenly because the jars will be closer to the temperature of the wax. You can skip this if you are lazy, like I was when I made these.

Step Two. Melt Wax

In your double boiler, or a pot placed over a boiling pot of water, melt your wax. 1 cup of wax should make about one 4 ounce candle (like the 4 ounce jelly jars I love to use)

Step Three. Add Scents

When the wax is completely melted, turn the heat off but leave the pot on the double boiler. Now is time to add your essential oils. I added about 20 drops of ginger oil, 15 vanilla, 10 cinnamon, and 5 nutmeg into 2 cups of wax. I also added some sprinkles of cinnamon. It gave the candles a speckled look, which I like.

Step Four. Pour into jars

Pour the wax into the jars and let them cool! If your wicks won’t stay in the middle, just use a toothpick to keep them in place.

And don’t forget Step 5…

Burn your candles and enjoy the smell! I love the scent of these.

You can play around with the ratios of oils until you get a scent that smells right to you. I was happy with this combination, but I could have even gone with more for a stronger candle. Either way, they’re great.

Let me know how making homemade all natural gingerbread candles goes for you!

supplies used in this post

The post DIY Gingerbread Candles appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.