Ornament Silhouette T-shirt

I am *that girl* who waits until Thanksgiving (and Black Friday!) are over before busting out the Christmas decorating, baking, carols, and projects. It's hard to be me when so many bloggers are showcasing their fabulous Christmas crafts, but I guess I'm a traditionalist. I like to finish out Fall and this season of gratitude before moving on to the "most wonderful time of the year!"

That said, this is most likely the only Christmas-related craft you will see from me before Thanksgiving. As most of you know, I'm hosting a Silhouette Product Giveaway this week along with a discount on Silhouette products. I thought it might be nice if I took the time to show you guys one of the products I got to try out and give it a little review. Want a sneak peek?

I'll admit, I was really skeptical when I pulled the heat transfer material out of the packing box. I don't own a Silhouette machine, and I had a hard time imagining how even the most accomplished crafting diva would manage to create an intricate design using only scissors. Hmmm...

As I tried  to think of something simple I might be able to pull off, Jen's Painted Ornament Pillows came to mind. Light bulb moment!

I bought a red, long-sleeved t-shirt from Wal-Mart's Garanimals line for $3.50, some permanent fabric glue, and some thin Christmas themed ribbon from Michaels. Time to get to work!

I found some ornament silhouette clip art photos through Google and printed them in different sizes using MS Publisher. This is where having an actual Silhouette machine would have been handy, but didn't ruin the project for me.

I placed my ornament cut outs on the unrolled heat transfer paper to trace and cut out (they give you quite a lot!):

Once I had the shapes cut out on the transfer paper, I peeled the plastic off and laid the shapes out with the clear paper over top.

I recommend using a thin (!) kitchen towel to lay over the clear paper when ironing...this ensures that the heat will adequately adhere your transfer paper to the shirt. The Silhouette directions said to hold the iron firmly in place for 45-60 seconds. I found that it took several passes before my shapes were all the way stuck on the shirt.

Hmm...kind of bland, huh?

Time for some bling! I eye balled ribbon and rhinestones, using fabric glue to press everything into place by hand.

And the final product?

  

Michaela Byrd looks like she's ready for a Holly Jolly Christmas, doesn't she? (She certainly has the jolly part down)

Final verdict? I give the Heat Transfer Paper a B+. Having the use of a Silhouette machine would have opened up a world of options for cut outs. I felt somewhat limited in that I knew I'd do better with solid shapes...I have the cutting skills of a preschooler. Being able to do use more intricate designs in a wider variety of colors would have bumped this product up into the A range, but the product itself is fairly easy to work with and I was impressed with the amount of paper that came in the package.

{Are you still in Fall celebration mode, or are you ready to bring on the Christmas?}


Linking to Weekend Wrap Up party and the Crazy Christmas Crafter Link-Up.