Re-stickify Cricut Mats!!! Easy and actually works

Super easy!

You need:
Aleene's Tack It Glue
Water
Small bowl
Foam brush

1. Scrape off your cricut mats to remove big pieces of paper and vinyl. Mine still have some small pieces...no big deal.

2. Pour equal parts Aleene's Tack It glue and water into your small bowl and mix together.

3. Dip foam brush in the mixture and "paint" on a thin layer over the entire mat(s.)

4. Let dry - doesn't take too long especially in our 95 degree weather today.

5. The mat will be extremely tacky (odd...) pat the mat with your hands to "condition" with the oils in your hands. It will take some of the stick out of the mat so your paper doesn't tear.

VOILA!! Took me a couple of minutes to do 4 mats and the glue was $5...much better than spending $10 on a new mat that only works several times before it loses it's stick.

Distressed Wood Signs

dream BIG
Family
Life is Better on the River
be happy
love LIFE

First I put a thin coat of cheap Jo-Ann's acrylic paint as my base coat on 2" wide pieces of wood.
Then I cut out cheap contact paper for stencils on the cricut using the Opposites Attract Cartridge.
The contact paper sticks to the wood (once it's dry)as a stencil and I just the letters in a different color.
I peeld off the contact paper carefully while the paint was still wet. Don't worry if it's not perfect.
Then I sanded with an 80 grit piece of sandpaper focusing on all of the edges and then over the whole piece.
I feel an addiction coming on...It only took a few hours with breaks in between to do the 5 signs.
I HAVE to keep "Life is better on the River" for myself!!!

Family Wall Hook

Uneven old boards held together by wood brackets on the back
Family in black vinyl cut using the cricut (cartridge: opposites attract)
Clothespins hot glued on
Hang small items or pictures with the clothespins

HOME Wall Art

I used the cricut to cut these layered letters out of scrapbook paper, added bows and buttons. I wrapped 8 x 10 canvas with scrapbook paper, cutting the paper to just under 10" to avoid messing around with corners then glued the letters on.

Bright Pink and Brown Baby Quilt

Here's the brighter version of the same quilt and the back of the quilt with Yara's name in Egyptian.

Light Pink and Brown Baby Quilt

Here's the front and back of one of the baby "take 5" (5 pieces to each block and 5 different fabrics) The pillow came out cute. I cut the baby's name out of black cotton with heat and bond on the back using the cricut (Plantin Schoolbook) then ironed the letters on.

HOME

I used the Opposites Attract Cricut cartridge and cut out HOME from cardboard. Then I cut pretty papers and added some doodads like ribbon and buttons. Kinda cute...

Simplify Sign

I made this for my mom since she is on her "no buy" kick. It's a plain almost clipboard rectangle (from Dollartree) that I put a patterned background and cut out the simplify and little bird using the Home Decor cartridge. I mod podged everything together and then put one coat over the whole thing.

More Onesies!

I used the home decor cart for all of these except for "auntie's girl" and I used plantin school book. The letters came out really cute - almost look like the american girl font. Some of the fabric paints are sparkly, some flat and some pearl but I think they are all Tulip brand.

Flower Happy Birthday Card

This is the birthday card I made for a friend. I ripped 3 "petal" shaped scraps of a pink paper and a yellow center and colored the white edges with a coordinating marker. The leaf is a green piece of paper and the stem is a green ribbon. I added a little shiny gem in the center of the flower and a cut out that says Happy Birthday from the cricut cartridge beyond birthdays. Very easy!

Jumbo Clothespin for Lauren

This was the clothespin I made for a friend's birthday. I put her card in it but it can hold pictures also. I cut the paper to fit and then cut the letter L and scallop circle from mini monograms with the cricut then tied it on with a ribbon.

Halloween Decorations

The top picture is hard to see but it's a grapvine wreath in the center window pane decorated with ghosts, pumpkins, tombstones and a big spider and spider web. The sides have a mummy and a ghost. In the living room there are two black cats (Rosa and Muffin) and a pumpkin. Pam cut these out on her cricut last year using, I think the paperdoll cartridge and the doodlecharms cartridge...I could be wrong though. We outlined the edges and inked them.

Anniversary Tile

Here is my first attempt at a tile with vinyl. I somehow pulled this off last minute with the world's worst headache for a friend's 15th wedding anniversary. I used glossy gray vinyl, it would have looked better with the matte but I think it still came out pretty. I used the opposites attract cartridge for the letters and numbers and the home decor cartridge for the swirl. Very easy to make and the tile was about $1.00 at Lowes and then I got a plate rack (with a rooster on it but the tile covers it) at Family Dollar for $3.00. I will definitely keep this idea in mind because it was cheap, fast and easy.

Bulletin Board

This is the bulletin board of resources I made for work. It has things like food pantries, housing help, insurance help and I used the cricut paper pups cartridge for all of the pictures. I think it came out really cute and I definitely got my money's worth out of the cricut on this one!

Tags Swap

Here are the tags my sister, Pam, and I made for our first swap. We each did twelve tags, one for each month. Hers are the top two pics (packaged very cute) and the bottom picture shows the tags I made for her. Onto the next swap. . .

Leaves and Ferns

These leaves and ferns are on the wall in my hallway. I needed something to take up space. . .that was cheap. The colors turned out to be perfect for the colors in that room. I used Stretch Your Imagination for the leaves and then inked the edges and filled in the lines on the ferns. I used double stick tape to hold them up there. I get a lot of compliments for it being just paper taped on a wall!

Live Laugh Love

Vinyl for the wall. Used the cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge and matte black vinyl. Looks just like paint on th wall.

BABY Wordbook

I used the cricut cartridge plantin schoolbook and used to the bind it all to finish the edges (not shown)

Mailbox with Oh My Vinyl

Here is the mailbox I made last night. I used some Oh My Vinyl and some glossy vinyl from ebay. The numbers are from the cricut Mini Monnograms cartridge and the swirls and butterflies are from the Home Decor cartridge. I think it came out really cute and will be way better than the one that I have now.

Cupcake Treat Bag

This little cupcake drawstring treat bag is so cute! I gave it to my nephew for his birthday with some candy inside. I used the cricut and the cartridge was doodlecharms. Layering the freezer paper was pretty easy. You can iron over the parts you've already painted once they're dry.