Silhouette adhesive vinyl gifts

 

One of my most favourite thing to do with my Silhouette machine is make personalised gifts for friends and colleagues. The Silhouette is the perfect tool for personalising just about any shiny surface! 

I think I've mentioned previously that I bought it and then didn't use it for years and years. I felt bad that I'd wasted quite a bit of money on something that never got used. It wasn't until I was a new mum and didn't have a lot of money that I pulled it out again. Even though once I started using it I was totally addicted. It was then I felt grateful that I had bought it when money wasn't so tight... because I never would have been able to justify it to myself when I was trying to provide for me and my little one on one income at half pay. Anyway, enough rambling - This isn't a blog designed for SEO or to make money off clicks!!  

I thought I would share just some of the gifts I've made out of adhesive vinyl in the last few years.

Adhesive vinyl is basically like the sticky contact paper we used to cover our school books with.  The machine is similar to a printer, except it has a very fine cutter. You create the design on the computer and then send it to the cutting machine to print out the sticker.

Once you've cut the design, you 'weed' the parts of the vinyl off the backing paper so you are only left with the part you want on your product.  Then you use 'transfer tape' to keep the design that you've cut out in the right shape. In my opinion it is the transfer tape that really makes it look good. If you tried to transfer the design without the tape it would look very wonky.

There are different types of vinyls. Glitter, matte, metallic, colour change etc etc. Then it comes in temporary - so stickers that can be put on walls etc and easily removed, and permanent - the sticker is much harder to remove once it has been applied.  

I do like putting stickers on mugs, but even if permanent vinyl is used, it can still come off unfortunately - especially if the item is put through the dishwasher or in really hot water.

Still, I think you'll agree, they are not just fun to make, they also make lovely gifts.

If you're looking for things to add your vinyl to, they are often called 'blanks' online. I tend to just notice 'blanks' when I'm out shopping. Things like the glitter cup above look better in real life, but items like the compact below that are just plain metallic or solid colour come up particularly well.

I've particularly found these little personalised gifts nice for my daughters child carers and educators. My sister is a teacher and says that teachers have enough mugs - but I know I prefer to have a mug with my name on it in my workplace, so I continue to do them as gifts - especially for birthdays. Christmas I do try to do other things. As you'll see below, not everything is a mug or drinking vessel. You can use pencil cases, bags and jars and things too.

I hope you enjoyed looking through some of my Silhouette adhesive vinyl personalised gifts.

Take care