FATHER'S DAY: EASIEST NO SEW LETTER BUNTING

I've shown a number of ways to put letters on handmade bunting, but this time folks, it is the easiest. The best part? You don't have to cut them out. Silhouette has fabric blade that does all the work for you. All you need is an iron to affix any letter in ANY font onto a bunting or a pillow or t-shirt. Using their fabric interfacing, seriously the best iron on stuff I've tried, and their fabric cutting blade, I made a simple linen bunting for Father's Day. Father's Day is a tough one as far as decorations go, I kept the color palette simple and masculine.

You will need:

Silhouette Portrait (or Cameo), heat transfer fabric interfacing: clean cut, fabric for letters, fabric for bunting, embroidery thread.

Here's how I did it:

Cut a piece of interfacing about the size of the cutting mat. Iron, rough side down, onto the back of your fabric. Use a hot iron and press down hard, in a smoothing motion to remove all wrinkles for a few seconds until secure. Let cool - don't touch that baby, she's hot.

Trim excess fabric and interfacing off with a rotary cutter. Trim your piece so it is just a smidge smaller than the work area on your cutting mat, you don't want the rollers to touch the fabric. Place fabric side up/interfacing side down on the cutting mat.

In Silhouette Studio, add your fonts and size them up to your desired size. Set your settings to fabric, add your fabric blade to your machine and cut away.

Peel off the excess fabric to reveal your letters.

Cut simple bunting shapes. Place letters over the bunting and iron down.

Stitch with embroidery thread to hang.

This garland took less than 15 mins to make. It took me longer to edit the photos and write this post. No joke. In a few minutes you can make a personal garland say anything you like in what ever font you love. Don't forget table runners and napkins, there is so much you can do. Letters, letters, everywhere. What will you make?

I jumped at the chance to see what I could do with the fabric interfacing and blade for my Silhouette Portait, and for a limited time you can try it out too at a great discounted price. Silhouette is offering a promotion this week for my readers! All you have to do is use the promo code "HANK" and you can get these great deals here:

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of Silhouette and I recieved free product for this review. I will only share prodcuts that I love that I think my readers will love. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

SCOUT POP-UP SHOP IN SEATTLE

A quick little note today for my friend Jenn, of A Blog Named Scout. She is a very talented prop stylist that I was lucky to meet when we first moved back up to Seattle a few years ago. She runs the vintage rental company Scout and is having a pop-up sale in the Trophy Cupcakes Party room this weekend May 25-26th. If you are a local, this is not one to miss. She styled the Trophy book and I can attest that her collection is beautiful insanity. As in, so much good stuff you will want to take it all home. In fact, you will probably have to fight me for a few items. The pop-up sale will have furniture, tabletop accessories, textiles, unique and one-of-a-kind pieces.

So, whether you are decorating your home, your own prop collection or an upcoming wedding. She'll be going online with her shop later this year and this is your chance to get first dibs. I'll be there bright and early, will you?

SUMMER ENTERTAINING: DIY PAINTERLY CHARGERS

Summer is here, well almost. Memorial Day is coming up fast and what better way to accent your summer party than with something bright and colorful like hand painted chargers. You don't have to be an artist to achieve this modern abstract painting look for your table. All it takes is a little craft paint and those cheap plastic chargers. You can find the chargers at Michaels or your local craft shop. Don't forget to grab a few off season colors and you can paint them to match your party colors. A step even easier? Just paint them a solid color to match the decor. These chargers have a smooth surface and once you cover them with a quick pop of plastic primer (Rustoleum is my favorite) you have a blank canvas to work with. You can score the chargers full price at $1.99, so even going all out makes a table of four settings incredibly affordable. Just one more way you can add a splash of color without breaking the bank.

Check out my full DIY over on Julep today! These take a few minutes plus dry time. You can certainly make these in time for the big weekend ahead.

HAND DRAWN HIPSTER FONT: TREND HANDMADE

Earlier this year I shared a fabulous font called Trend. Well, the folks over at Latinotype have brought a new version to life, Trend Handmade.  All the awesomeness of the original with a bit of scratchyness built in, as if you sketched this bad boy by hand. I love that kind of stuff. You know, the kind of distressed look that I don't have to do myself. I love design and fonts and know just enough about Illustrator to be dangerous, but I am not a designer. Even if I was, when typographers save me steps modifiying fonts, well, that is my kind of heaven. It's a hipster style font, perfect for labels, logos and t-shirts.This baby is on sale for $19, that is such a super deal!

I hope everyone has a fabulous Mother's Day weekend! How cool would this font be on a card? Don't forget to win two tickets to Alt for Everyone - there is less than 2 hours to enter to win!! GO!

Check out more font inspiration (or just some fun fonts to have in your arsenal here:

ALEXANDRA  {THE AERIALIST PRESS}

ALISON {ALISON OWEN DESIGN}

JEN {BLUSH PRINTABLES}

STEPH {BUBBLEROCK}

SOFIA {BRANCOPRATA}

CATHERINE {DESIGN EDITOR}

CHELSEY {CHELSEYEMERY}

ALLIE {HONEY BEE INVITES}

LAUREN {LAUREN ELISE CRAFTED}

JENNA + ELIZABETH {LITTLE BIT HEART}

LAUREN {PALM PAPERS}

KERRY {SUPER SWOON}

VICKI {VICKI.DESIGNER}

WENDY{WESWEN DESIGN}

FOLLOW #FONTFRIDAY on Twitter!

DIY PAINTED LETTER CUPCAKE TOPPERS

How do you make cool letter cupcake toppers? You could use the limited selection they sell at the craft store, paint them and pop 'em on a stick. Or you could use a Silhouette and make them out of any old font you like! Well, you know how I hate having limited options, especially when it comes to fonts. I used the new chipboard sheets and whipped up my own set of cool cupcake toppers. The chipboard is great because it is thin enough for the machine to cut, but thick enough to be painted and stand on it's own as a letter.  Since the Silhouette Portrait can use any font that is loaded on your computer, I chose one of my favorites, AmarilloUSAF (a freebie from dafont.com), a great modern font with cool notched corners. Love it!

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