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Boots Bows & Beaches

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5 Things I Love About My Cricut Maker

August 17, 2020

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut for Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you have heard of the Cricut Maker before, then you know exactly how amazing this machine can be. If you haven’t, then be prepared for your mind to be blown.

I’m excited for you to learn all about it today, so let me tell you my 5 reasons why I love my Cricut so you can start having some fun too.

5 Things I Love About My Cricut Maker

  1. It’s so easy to use!

I will admit that I was very intimidated when I got my Cricut Maker. Finally, after a few days of it sitting in the box, I decided it was time to hook it up. It’s so easy you literally just have to get it out of the box, plug it in, connect your computer and pull up Design Space. I was creating within minutes and have been addicted ever since!

  1. Design Space

Design Space® is super easy to use and is available for iOS, Android™, Windows®, and Mac®. There are lots of make-it-now projects especially made for the Maker and its new features. I love that I can search for any project idea and find tons of inspiration. Then all I have to do is click “Make It” and the project comes to life so easily.

 

I can go right into the image folder and search “School” and instantly there are TONS of designs, ready to cut. Design Space has so many designs in a wide variety of styles, so you don’t get the same thing every time.

  1. Personalize Everything

I always loved personalizing all the things. Once we moved to the South it’s definitely a way of life here, from shirts to notebooks and everything in between. The possibilities are endless. I can put my monogram on everything I own if I want to and give personalized gifts for holidays. The list goes on and on!

 

  1. It makes party decorating so easy

I love planning parties and making my own decorations but now that I have my Cricut Maker making party decorations is so much easier! I can customize decorations to match any theme.

 

The Maker cuts over 300 different materials, from the most delicate fabric and paper to vinyl and leather. There are so many options when it comes to creating party decorations. My sister’s 21st birthday was a few weeks after I got my Cricut so I had to make her something for her party. I used a bucket from the Dollar Tree and made a decal with white vinyl for the words. Then I cut out embossed paper with the Cricut to make the flowers and the big 2 1 to stick out of the bucket. It was so easy and only took a few minutes!

  1. Infusible Ink

I saved my favorite for last! I am absolutely obsessed with Cricut’s infusible ink. Infusible ink is basically an ink transfer product. The transfer sheets are made of a dry ink product, and when high heat is applied, the ink is actually transferred into (not onto) the base material.

 

Infusible Ink won’t ever peel, fade, crack, or warp – it actually becomes part of the shirt (or other blanks) that you’re using! There are SO many possibilities with Infusible Ink, and the results are incredible!

How To Use Infusible Ink

I want to show you how to use Infusible Ink for ceramic coasters, they are probably my favorite blank to use for the infusible ink.

Start by creating your design for your coasters in Cricut Design Space. If you are making your own design, the coasters are 3.5″ x 3.5″, so take that size into consideration. The coasters in the Cricut Image Library are sized properly.

Cricut Maker

After you have your design click Make It in the upper right corner. When you get to the Prepare screen, make sure to mirror your image if it needs to be on your coaster a certain way (mine did because I made my monogram.) Infusible Ink is like iron-on vinyl you will need to reverse your image for it to adhere correctly to the base. Then click Continue.

In the Make screen, select Infusible Ink Transfer Sheet as your material. Make sure you have the Fine Point blade inserted.

Cut Your Design And Weed

Place your Infusible Ink transfer sheet ink side up on a cutting mat. Then insert into your machine and cut!

Cricut Maker

I learned quickly you don’t need to use your weeding tool to weed the Infusible Ink. You can sort of just bend the paper and the negative space comes off easily.

Lay Out Your Coasters For Infusible Ink And Press

Next, we are going to make a stack for the heat press. Bottom to top it goes:

  • EasyPress Mat
  • White cardstock (this protects your mat)
  • Weeded transfer image, colored-side UP.
  • Coaster, shiny side DOWN, centered on the transfer image
  • Butcher paper
  • EasyPress 2

The EasyPress 2 will heat your image THROUGH the coaster.

According to Cricut’s Heat Settings Guide, the time and temperature for Infusible Ink on ceramic coasters is 400° for 240 seconds. Yes, it is a full four minutes on your EasyPress. This allows the heat to go through the coaster and into the transfer sheet, sublimating it onto the coaster.

Use The EasyPress To Transfer Infusible Ink

Once your EasyPress 2 is to temperature, place it carefully on top of the stack you made. Try not to let it move the coaster, or your image might shift, this happened to me the first time I used it. Then let the EasyPress sit there for 240 seconds with no pressure.

Then you have to wait, I know you will want to see what it looks like but I promise you it is HOT! Finally, after it has cooled unpeel your ink sheet and voilà!

I am extremely impressed with the way the Infusible Ink turns out. It is definitely one of my favorite things to use with the Maker. These coasters will be perfect Christmas gifts this year!

The Cricut Maker is the ultimate professional-level cutting machine. This machine is incredible and so powerful. If you can dream of the project, then the Maker can probably help bring it to life. I can’t wait for you to try it!

Filed in: Lifestyle, Projects • by Jamie • Leave a Comment

How To Train Your Dragon 3: Light Fury Slime Recipe

May 23, 2019

  • “This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #TrainYourDragonAtWalmart http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV” 
  • How To Train Your Dragon 3

    The third installment of the How To Train Your Dragon movies, How to Train Your Dragon 3 is now available in stores! Are you as excited as we are? Walmart has an exclusive DVD gift set and a lot of new merchandise that goes along with the movie! The exclusive DVD set even includes 2 Funko keychains!

    With the final movie in the series, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, available to purchase from Walmart we thought there was no better way to celebrate than to make Light Fury Slime! If you didn’t know, the series has brought in a new character – a female dragon named Light Fury. She’s just as fast, powerful and sweet as Toothless, and she’s great at blending into clouds and fog because of her bright white color! Since I’m a girl mom I love that the movie brought in a female dragon and she is also our inspiration for the slime!

     

    Light Fury Slime Recipe 

    This slime is super easy to make so if you haven’t made slime before, this is an easy go-to recipe.

    Ingredients 

    • 1 cup white school glue 
    • 1/4 – 1/2 cup water, as needed
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 3 Tablespoons contact solution
    • Iridescent Glitter 

    Instructions 

    1. Empty the bottle of glitter glue into a mixing bowl
    2. Stir in the baking soda. Mix well.
    3. Add contact solution and mix until slime forms. You’ll notice it comes together immediately and takes a few minutes to fully form.
    4. Knead the slime with your hands to get it to a consistency you’re happy with
    5. Add glitter and mix thoroughly
    6. Store in airtight bag or container

    So simple and so much fun! My kids will play with slime for hours! This is the perfect activity to get excited for family movie night and the release of How To Train Your Dragon 3! Plus, homemade slime is a great boredom buster as well which will be great with Summer vacation around the corner!

    My kids love the movie and if yours do too, they’ll enjoy making this slime! You can get all the ingredients needed for the slime at Walmart along with How to Train Your Dragon 3 apparel and toys also!

    Head to Walmart and purchase the new release of How to Train Your Dragon 3 Walmart Exclusive DVD Gift Set today!

    Filed in: Girl Mom, Projects • by Jamie • Leave a Comment

    Our Screened Porch Makeover {Reveal}

    April 3, 2019

    It’s been a long time since I’ve shared a before and after decorating post with y’all, so get excited, because today’s is gonna be awesome, at least I think so!

    Before

    Screened porches are the perfect place to enjoy the outdoors while staying away from things like bugs and rain. Ours isn’t huge so I had to make the most of our space. When we moved in the furniture we had was nice but it took up most of the area. At that point it wasn’t a big deal, then we added a Great Dane to the family and well the area got a lot smaller real fast!

    This is what it looked like before. As you can see the furniture was large and there wasn’t much space to move around.

    After

    I am so happy to finally invite you to have a look around our screened porch makeover!

    I wanted to connect the theme of our living area to the porch so that everything was coastal, teal and beach themed. Hello Summer entertaining!

    When I say my screened in porch is my favorite part of my house I am not exaggerating. I love everything about our home and each room has something in it I adore but our back porch is my favorite spot, my happy place, my serenity, where I start and end my day. So, having it decorated just perfect was important to me! My goal was to create a cozy outdoor entertaining space that felt like another room in my home!

    We got rid of the old furniture and replaced it with this amazing Oak Bluffs Set from COSCO Products and now it’s the perfect spot to drink a beer or glass of wine and lounge at the end of the day.

    Oak Bluffs Collection

    I fell in love with the design of this set, and the teal color is almost the exact shade that we painted our wall in our living room. It feels like it was made for this space!

    I think the nesting ottomans are my favorite part of the collection! You can nest the ottomans under the chairs to save space, use them as side tables or even as extra seating! There are so many options unlike a lot of other patio sets.

    The full seating set has enough space to comfortably sit 8 guests. There are times we may need more table space and we can tuck the table cushions under the ottomans to utilize a coffee table and two side tables!

    This set allows us to customize our outdoor space and maximize our outdoor experience. I love the extra space we have now and how comfortable the seating is!

    I’m so happy to have an outdoor space where we can slow down and really live in the moment thanks to COSCO Products! I can’t wait to spend our Summer evenings with our friends and family on our new porch!

    Pin for later >>>

    Filed in: Lifestyle, Projects • by Jamie • 1 Comment

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    Hi, I’m Jamie and I’m so happy you are here!

    I started Boots Bows and Beaches a few years ago to share our craziness that is being married, working full time and of course being a mom of two teen girls.

    Who knew I would learn so much and make such great friends while listening to country music and dealing with teenage hormones.

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