Fish Extenders

I am a Disney fan.  Not over the top obsessed mind you, but I grew up close to Disneyland and visited the park at least every other year.  It is a magical place.  So during the past year I got the idea in my head that I wanted to have my boys experience the Disney magic.  I started to plan a trip to Disney World.  Then I got my hubby involved and he talked me in to switching to a Disney cruise.  The announcement to the boys was made Christmas morning and we took our trip over spring break.  It was fantastic fun!

While planning our trip I learned of a fun game Disney cruisers like to play.  It is a gift exchange called "Fish Extenders" or "FE" for short.  Families sign up to participate in the voluntary exchange and leave gifts for each other throughout the cruise.  Naturally when I was choosing my gift, it HAD to involve vinyl and a crafty flare.  :)

Each person on the gift exchange received a pocket sized bottle of hand sanitizer with a Mickey Mouse hand vinyled on it.  They turned out adorable!  And each person also received two black tile magnets, one with a Disney or cruise symbol and one personalized with their initial.  They were meant to help decorate their cabin doors which are magnetic.  Here are the pictures of my handiwork.  Enjoy!

Fun Teacher Gift

I sure love my 4 year old.  He is so sweet and fun, and he loves to give presents.  This year I suggested he make some magnets for his preschool teachers and he came up with the clever idea to make "magnet puzzles."  We decided to make Christmas trees.

We made a trip to Home Depot to pick up a sheet of one inch white ceramic tiles, and then (twist my arm) another trip to Hobby Lobby for some craft magnets.  Hobby Lobby is pretty much the best store in the world, or at least in my crafting world.  :)

We separated the tiles and washed them, then I let my son color them with special inks.  He colored one tile brown to be the tree trunk, one yellow to represent the star, and the rest in green to be the pine needles.  After the ink dried I gave him free reign to my assortment of scrapbooking gemstones.  He stuck several on the green tiles to be Christmas ornaments.  And finally I gave him some iridescent star stickers to use for the tree topper.  I finished up by gluing magnets to the back of the tiles so my little guy wouldn't glue his fingers together.

The next morning my son mixed up the tiles and we placed them in a gift bag.  He really enjoyed showing his bonding buddy how to put the puzzle together.  His teacher loved her set so much she asked if the magnets would be an easy craft for the entire class.

Although he landed on Christmas trees, I thought a snowman might make another cute magnet puzzle.  Any other clever ideas out there?

Snowflake Decals

Snowflakes are so fun during the holidays.  This year snowflakes graced our windows, mirrors, fridge, and soap dispensers.

Here is a shot of snowflake tile magnets.  The magnets are made of light blue glass tiles and white glossy vinyl.

In our kitchen we use an olive oil dispenser for hand soap.  This season we covered it in snowflakes made out of frosted vinyl, which has the same effect as glass etching.

Personalized Photo Album and Candles

This was a custom request for a person passionate about animals, but especially those from the ocean.

Once again I must apologize for Blogspot.  It continues to rotate my pictures for no good reason.  This album was a small photo album with a hard cover.  The colors were light turquoise and chocolate brown, so we decided to go with a turquoise vinyl.  This is the cover, we added "Kristin" and the turquoise flourish.

Here are the inside covers and the back cover of the album.  We added the animals and flourishes:

I was also asked to embellish two candles.  I found two candles that reminded me of the ocean and added some dolphins and a sea turtle:

Vinyl is an inexpensive way to personalize your home decor or gift.  Custom work generally costs $0.08 a square inch, possibly more if you request a more complex design.  I would be happy to give you a no obligation price quote for any projects you have in mind.

Nativity Silhouettes

This year I prepared several nativity silhouettes for a crafting party.  I designed them to fit on either a six inch square tile or a 7 inch square floating frame.

Design 1:  Halos
(Please be aware that the people have single halos.  The double halo is an effect of a shadow from the camera flash)

Design 2:  Swirls

Design 3:  Family Embrace

Design 4:  Primitive

One Cry, One Birth, One Life Tile

One cry awakened the world, One birth changed history, One life made all the difference!

I fell in love with this thought from the moment I heard it.  This quote was a request from a friend and I love how it came out.  This tile could be reserved as a special addition to your holiday decor during Christmas or Easter, or you could display it year-round to testify of Christ.

The above sample is chocolate brown vinyl on a sandstone tile.

Welcome Santa

Yep, still love that Christmasy font!  I was doing a bit of personal holiday shopping and came across an amazing red sequined frame that I fell hopelessly in love with!  I decided to make a message for a future guest in our home.  :)

A project like this is very simple.  All you need is a frame and piece of colorful scrapbook paper.  The vinyl is applied to the paper under the glass.  This has two benefits- you can clean the frame easily without damaging the vinyl design, and you can replace the framed design with different photographs or designs later in the year.  I have a feeling this cute sparkly frame will make an appearance during the Valentine season...