Well, it’s been a while.
I am finally, mostly, settled in my new house. It is half the size of my old one and, despite downsizing, there were moments when I didn’t think it would work. I ended up repacking some things I unpacked and my bedroom closet is filled with artwork and family photos I can’t get rid of, but don’t have space for. But, the more organized I get, the more the house seems to hold.
One area we knew would be a problem is the kitchen. It’s a fairly large space with giant windows and tons of light. Although the cabinets, floor and counter were already there, it was freshly painted and the sink and faucet are brand new. We brought our own appliances, so it felt like home right away. Our only issue was the lack of cupboards. Since we are on a tight budget, we turned to IKEA for inexpensive solutions to our challenge.
We bought a shelf to hold our dishes below the cupboard and my husband made little hooks to hang my soup mugs from it (the ones IKEA sold were too long.)
By the stove, we bought a bar and a cup holder from IKEA and hung our serving and cooking utensils on it, by the stove. Pot holders also now hang in the kitchen.
But, our biggest problem was food. So, we bought this shelf in the corner and some jars from IKEA (we plan to paint the shelf in the spring) to house our flour, sugar, baking mixes, snack food and other items. I cut out the instructions from the packaging and taped it to the bottom of the jars and then I HAD to embellish them …
I wanted to make intricate labels using different colors of vinyl. But the only vinyl I could find is sold in large packages that retail for about $7.99 per color. That’s fine if you want to make a quote for your wall, but it gets a bit expensive when you need just a few small pieces of each color.
So, I settled for white and decided I would either make labels and write the names on them or I would just cut out letters and let that be good enough. And then, halfway through the process, inspiration struck and I decided to try coloring the vinyl with Copic Sketch Markers.
Although it was a bit streaky — as Copic is on glossy paper — it worked.
I used vinyl from Hobby Lobby, Cricut’s Songbird font to cut out the letters and my Gypsy to weld them together. Then I colored them using a flicking motion before I removed the vinyl from my cutting mat.
It is important to color in one smooth line — without going back over in any area. Because the vinyl doesn’t absorb the ink like some papers, if you go back over, it will start to push the ink around and get sticky and gooey. Trust me. I did it!
Anyhow, I was so pleased with my results, I got a bit carried away on one of the jars and cut out one of the birds from the 3 Birds on Parade cartridge, whom my friends and I have named Dickie. (It’s a long story that probably isn’t worth telling — one of those that is hilarious during a late-night crop, but somehow loses its charm in the retelling.)
But, I love Dickie, so here’s what I did …
Isn’t he adorable?!?
I cut all of the layers out of white vinyl and then colored that parts with Copics. You can see the streaking on the larger pieces, but I think it gives Dickie a bit of character, don’t you?
candy scraps 