Iron-On Wall Portraits

Renters and minimalists rejoice, for today you will learn how to take those photos that have been stuck in digital limbo and transform an entire wall (okay, maybe a small wall) into a photo gallery even your landlord can’t object to.  Using a $5 roll of fabric adhesive and your trusty iron, you can take your rented walls from ho-hum to a work of joy.  And when you're ready to move, these prints peel right off with no sticky residue or telltale nail-holes of horror.

 

  What you need:

1. ·      Black and white or color untrimmed photos printed on standard paper
2. ·      Iron-on lightweight fabric adhesive (like Wonder-Under or Heat 'N Bond)
3. ·      Painters tape
4. ·      Iron
5. ·      Thick fabric or towel
6. ·      Old pillowcase 

What you do:

1.  Cut a piece of fabric adhesive slightly larger than your photo.

 

2.  Lay thick fabric or towel on a hard surface, with photo face down on top.  Lay fabric adhesive, shiny side down, on top, so your photo is sandwiched between the thick fabric and adhesive.

 3.  Following the instructions that came with the adhesive, use your iron to fuse the adhesive to the back of your photo.  (If the idea of ironing paper scares you, cover your "sandwich" with the pillowcase before ironing.) 

5.    Trim your photo and peel off the adhesive backing.

6.  Lightly tape your photo in place on your wall and tape your pillowcase over the photo.  

7.  Using the same setting on your iron, fuse your photo to the wall.  If you have heavily textured walls, you may have to go over the fabric several times.  (Alternatively, you could fuse only the edges of your photo to decrease ironing time and minimize the amount of texture picked up by your photo.)

8.  That’s it!   Repeat with remaining photos and enjoy your wall!

But wait!  What if you want to remove it?

When you're ready to remove the photo, just peel it off.  If your iron was too hot when you ironed the image on, part of your photo might refuse to budge.  In that case, simply reheat with your iron to loosen the adhesive and continue peeling.

Top 10 (As Voted on by Teachers) Teacher Gifts

In a recent poll, 500 elementary school teachers were asked to name their favorite end-of-the-year gifts from students.  Here are their answers:

#10  Summer related gift (i.e. beach towel, hat, etc.)  
Coincidentally, in my last post I pictured an example of this.  Put together a bright beach towel, a magazine and a fun pair of sunglasses (like these from Hippi Fashionista) and tie it up with a ribbon!
#9  Personalized stationary
This is easy to find in any office supply store of gift store. You can also think ahead and get it printed before hand by any number of online printers.
#8  Magazine Subscription
You'll need to find out your teacher's interests for this one--but stay away from education magazines, even a travel magazine is preferable to a monthly reminder of work.
#7  Plant/flowers
A daily reminder that he/she is appreciated.
#6  Gift basket
Try to find a theme your teacher likes—for example, gardening or cooking.  You could make this yourself using a nice basket. 
#5  Gift Card to teacher supply store/office supply store/etc.
#4  Food
Food is always appreciated, but some teachers mentioned receiving frozen casseroles or hand delivered submarine sandwiches during the last week of school.
#3  Sincere thank you note
A handwritten letter from the parents expressing sincere appreciation.  Give a copy to the principal and the teacher (if you let him/her know) will be doubly thankful!
#2  Gift card for coffee
A standard, but always appreciated.
#1  Gift Card for restaurant
Many teachers mentioned this was appreciated because it allowed them to go out and celebrate the end of the school year.

Whatever you decide, it is bound to be appreciated--and the older your child is, the more the teacher will appreciate it.  Gifts for teachers in the 7th - 12th drop by 90 percent(!), so sending even a small token of appreciation to these teachers will be even more appreciated!

Until next time

Go Get Crafty!

~Sister #1

Linking Up Here:

6 Great End-of-Year Teacher Gifts

It's that time of year again--time to put together a *few* gifts for the awesome teachers and aids who have been a part of my son's education this year.  So naturally, the first thing I did was head over to Pinterest to take a look at the board we sisters have put together dedicated to gifts!

Here are a few of my favorites:

  ↑ Summer teacher gift: a beach towel, magazine, sunscreen & sunglasses tied together; 

featured by Junk in Their Trunk.

Crafter's Rules of Acquisition

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Crafter's Rules of Acquisition

There are several variations of this going around.  Here's ours:

   

Free Valentine's Day Printable (or "cuttable")

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 I don't do a lot of Valentine decorating--one shelf and a wreath are  pretty much it.  But this year with the abundance of free printables online, I decided that I could do just one more thing.  But when I started shopping around, I couldn't find just the right thing--something red, of course, but something just a little bit quirky.  So after passing on some very good printables that would have been just fine, really, I decided to make my own.  I won't mention the amount of time it took to come up with this silly phrase, I will just say that my time would have been better spent polishing off one of my myriad other projects.  Still, I'm satisfied with the finished product--something red, and something a bit quirky.

I also made a cutting file.  I really like the idea of using paper I have on hand instead of ink, so whenever I can, I convert my images to cutting files to use with my Craft Robo.

Click here to download a printable. 
Click here to download the cutting file.  Note:  this file is an Illustrator file.  
PDF to be posted soon.

Here are just a few of the others available online:

http://www.theidearoom.net/2012/01/valentines-day-printable.html

http://www.elislids.com/free-valentines-day-printables/

This one's extra special, because the it can be used for different purposes.  Go to the original blog to  see how.

This one's not a framable printable, but it's so cute!

Until next time,

~Sister #2