Make it: Oscar’s Recycle Can

The living space of our townhouse is on the second floor. Our city-issued recycle can lives in our garage on the first floor. About a year ago we picked up this awesome green Oscar the Grouch Can (AKA KNODD) for $14.99 at Ikea. It’s the perfect size to hold our kitchen recycling.

Every couple of days we take it downstairs and empty the contents into our giant recycle container. Every week I am amazed at the amount of recycling that we accumulate.

We have a similar can in the upstairs office in red and this system seems to work well for us. However, our guests are often confused which can is the garbage can. *ummm… its the tall stainless can right next to the short oscar the grouch can.

I figured our cans could use a little labeling so I busted out the Silhouette Machine and some black vinyl.

Using Silhouette studio, I searched the Silhouette shop and found a recycle shape to purchase. You can’t argue with $0.99.

I sized the shape large enough to fill the lid of the can and arranged the pieces for cutting.

With some careful placement I worked around the lid handle and Voila!- clearly labeled Oscar the Grouch Recycle Can!

Where does your recycling go?

Make it: Chalkboard Mason Jars

What do you get when you mashup these two inspiration photos?

Inspiration From Brides.com 

Inspiration from Mrs Stripes Awesome chalkboard Mason Jars

 Answer: Fun party bar ware that you can make for $2.22 per glass!  This is seriously easy.

All you need is some mason jars, fancy lids, a large circle punch (or other desired shape punch), chalkboard contact paper, and chalk.  I prefer the Kerr mason jars because they have a flat smooth side where you can adhere the chalkboard.

Step 1: Punch a circle out of the chalkboard contact paper.  I used this specific brand because it was thin enough to work with a paper punch.  There are more substantial adhesive chalkboard  sheets out there but I can only attest to this method working with the contact paper version. You could also just trace any shape you wanted on the back of the contact paper and use scissors to cut it out.  I had this punch lying around so it was convenient.

Step 2: Adhere the contact paper to the jar.  Be sure to smooth out any air bubbles.

Step 3: Prep with chalk.  I never knew that you need to prep chalkboard before using.  Simply rub plain white chalk all over the surface.

Wipe the chalk off and you can consider the chalk board prepped!

Step 4: Write name with chalk marker.*  I suggest doing this in advance because condensation from a beverage can cause recently applied chalk to run.

*Regular chalk works well too, the chalk maker just looks so nice.

Step 4: Pour beverage & replace the standard canning jar top with this fancy top.  

Step 5: Insert Straw & Sip!

We weren’t sure if the contact paper would stay on in the dishwasher but we have run these through twice and they are still adhered. I figured that we had so much contact paper that if they came off I would just punch new chalkboards the next time we wanted to use these glasses.

I figured you might be interested in giving this a whirl so I put together a shopping list.

Shopping List:

Chalkboard contact paper from Amazon 18″ x 6′ $11.98

* note- you only need about a foot of the 6′ so consider buying a smaller size if you don’t have other chalkboard crafts in mind.

Kerr 16 oz regular mason Jars 12 for $9 @ Goodman’s

Daisy Cut Mason jar Lids from Candle Soylutions $4.20 for 12

SODA Straws from Ikea $1.49

Marvy Bistro Chalk Maker $7.65 on Amazon

 

 3″ Circle Punch $17.95 on Overstock.com

Total cost for this project:

26.67  or 2.22 per glass for 12  glasses (excluding the punch and chalk markers which I already owned)

Total including markers and punch: 52.57 or $4.35/glass for 12 glasses

Silhouette Demo

Last night a friend  texted me to ask about my Silhouette Machine’s features and if she should buy one.  Text message wasn’t the best way for me to answer her questions so I sent her my short answer. “I love it & buy it!”  Today I busted out the video camera and make a not-so-short tutorial showing her all the features that I wanted to tell her about.  Lucky you guys, I made a sharable tutorial for you too.

My friend was specifically interested in the print and cut feature and how the Silhouette Machine is different from the Cricut machine. Forgive my quick typing skills- I have a typo in my tutorial because I was more focused on creating the tutorial than I was on proofing my project. The video is rather long, but it does give a good end to end preview of the machine and its capabilities.

I use my Silhouette for lots of crafting and household projects. You might remember that I mentioned that I cut out the days of the week in vinyl for our household calendar. But that is just the beginning of the projects I’ve done with this machine.

Placecards

Yay Flags (photo by Amore Studios)

Envelope Liner and Belly Band buckle

Program Covers (photo by Amore Studios)

Fun gift cards

 

Favor Boxes with leaf

Sign and easel

 

You can view a comparison of the features of the Cricut and the Silhouette here.  If this piqued your interest you might want to check out the The Silhouette blog where Silhouette designers feature project ideas, tutorials and the weekly free shape of the week.  I have been swooning over this project idea using little Miss Sunshine since it was posted on the blog this past week.

Via The Silhouette Blog

If you have any questions on the tutorial, please email me, or leave them in the comments.