Groomsmen Cigar Boxes

So this was the first big project where I got to use my Cricut Explore One. That being said, I helped with the project but most of the work was done by my fiancé. He wanted to make something for the guys that are going to be standing by him on our big day.

Supplies:

Wooden Cigar box

Vinyl

Transfer Paper

Cricut

Cricut mat

Cricut scaper

Black spray paint

Stain (we used Dark Walnut as the color)

Rags for staining
Satin spray polyurethane

What to Do:

1) First thing first, you have to come up with the design. I used Cricut Design Studio. I however didn't make the A&D logo in the middle of the boxes, it was designed by my future father-in-law.

The guy's names and their role were done in the Papyrus font. The whole design was sized to be 7 inches x 7 inches.

2) Cut a piece of vinyl to 9 inches x 9 inches and attach to the cutting mat. Then cut the design.

3) Once the design is cut you have to remove the parts of the design that you want to show up when you paint. For our design we removed the inside of the letters so the outlines remained.

4) Cut a piece of transfer paper 8 inches x 8 inches. Peel off the backing of the transfer paper as you apply it to the top of the vinyl design. Ensure that you smooth it out completely as you go to ensure you don't get bubbles. Then you want to press and smooth it real well with the scraper to make sure the design sticks to the transfer paper.

5) The next step is to remove the back from the vinyl. Its easiest to do this if you flip the design over and pull up ensure that all of the vinyl remains attached to the transfer paper on the front.

6) Center the design on the box and the slowly lay down the design started at one edge and smoothing out the bubbles as you go. Ensure that every thing is stuck down well.

7) Next you remove the transfer paper from the vinyl. Its best if you start at a corner and pull the transfer paper off slowly at an angle. As your going if the vinyl starts to pull up just push it back down with the transfer paper and try it again.

8) Once the transfer paper is removed go ahead and make sure that the vinyl is stuck down well.

9) Use masking tape and tape off the sides of the box to make sure it is not painted by overspray.

10) Next spray painted the design on in black and let the paint dry completely.

10) After the paint has dried you can remove the vinyl. Due to the type of wood the box was made of, the paint ran a little bit into the grain of the wood. That was okay with us because the stain covered it up.

11) Next step is to stain the boxes. We used an old t-shirt that we cut into rags to stain. Then we used a clean rag to wipe off any excess stain.

12) We next added a coat of satin polyurethane to seal the box.

13) The last step is to fill the box. In ours we put a 8 oz. hip flask that had been sand blasted with the logo and the groomsman's name, a flask funnel, a 0.375 Liter bottle of whiskey, a cigar, and a cigar cutter.  

Beard Trimmings Catcher

For those of you who's significant other is sporting facial hair then you understand the pain in finding those little hairs all over the bathroom sink. No matter how hard they try to clean it up some still escape. So when I stumbled upon this clever little trick to help, I rushed right out to buy what was needed to make it. I will also add that I gave this as a funny Christmas gift to my fiancé.

Materials Needed:

Black apron

Two Medium Suction cups

White acrylic paint

Paint brushes

Mustache or beard printout

Scissors

Superglue

White fabric pencil

Ruler

What to do:

First thing is to prepare the apron. I couldn't find one that didn't have a front pocket on it (which I assumed would be a horrible idea as a hair catcher) so I had to remove the pocket using a seam ripper. Then removed the back tie straps, just snipped them right off with the scissors (close to wear the seam holding it on is).

Next step was to add the suction cups to the bottom corners of the apron. On the back side of the apron I made 1 centimeter marks 3 centimeters for the edge both horizontally and vertically. Then I cut along the 1 centimeter line to get a hole to put the knob on the suction cup in. Do a trial to make sure the suction cup will fit in the hole made. After checking the fit put super glue along the edge of the knob on the suction cup (see picture below) and carefully insert into the hole, making sure the suction cup is at the back side of the apron.

The last step is to add the design. I cut out the mustache and used the outline left from cutting out and traced it onto the front of the apron using a white fabric pencil. Once you have the outline I used a fine paint brush to go around the border, then a thicker brush to fill in, it took 3 coats of the white acrylic paint to get it coated.

Let the paint dry and then your done!

How to place the super glue onto the suction cup.

Insipiration for this project was found here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/clairenolan/this-diy-suction-cup-apron-is-the-solution-to-your-beard-gro?utm_term=.deVzRbeQG#.uhqYvNymo