DIY Back to School Teacher Tumbler

Hi friends! Elise here from Polka Dotted Blue Jay. I wanted to be a teacher when I was a little girl. I loved going to school and especially loved writing on the chalkboard – yes, chalkboard! Well, I didn’t become the elementary school teacher I thought I would be, but my appreciation for teachers runs deep. Keep reading to see how to decorate this DIY coffee tumbler to give to a teacher on the first day of school. Add a coffeehouse gift card for extra credit!

I love this FREE design you can get here from Shop Craftables. Just download and get to crafting. I have instructions on how to cut out the design below.

Supplies Needed:

• Silhouette CAMEO®
• Silhouette Cutting Mat
• Silhouette Cutting Blade
• Silhouette Studio
• FREE Design from Shop Craftables
• Coral Adhesive Vinyl - Permanent
• Transfer Tape
• Scraper Tool
• Coffee Tumbler

Creating Your Design:

1. Open up your Silhouette Studio®.

2. Select the Page Setup Window and adjust your cutting mat size to 12x12 (or the sized mat you are using).

3. Download your free design from Shop Craftables and then open your word art in Silhouette Studio. Click File>Open>Select your downloaded file.

4. Measure your tumbler and re-size your design to the correct space on your 12x12 template – be sure to move the design as a group so it keeps everything lined up. You can do this by clicking and dragging to cover the whole design and then moving as one piece.

5. Select trace tool from the side toolbar and click “Select Trace Area”.

6. Click and drag to select your design and release your mouse. The design will turn yellow. Select the “trace” option in the lower menu and the outline will turn red – this is what will cut out of your vinyl. You can move the white background away if you want to see your cut file only. ** Steps 6&7 will be different if you have the designer edition of the Silhouette software.

7. Attach your Adhesive Vinyl to the cutting mat, color side up, and load into your machine. I always trim my vinyl to slightly bigger than my design – that way I don’t waste or damage a whole sheet.

8. Follow the prompts in the Design Studio to adjust your blade (if using a ratchet blade) for Adhesive Vinyl and double check to make sure your design has been selected to cut.

9. Select “Send” to start cutting.

10. Select “Unload” when your machine has finished cutting your design to remove the cutting mat from the machine.

Preparing Your Design:

1. Remove your sheet of Vinyl from the cutting mat – go slow so it doesn’t curl up.

2. Use your fingers or a wedding tool to remove the excess vinyl. Be sure to leave your design on the backing sheet.

3. Carefully remove the centers of the letters and graphics. The letters can be delicate, so take your time.

Creating Your Coffee Tumbler:

1. Place a piece of transfer tape over your design.

2. Use the scraping tool to make sure the design adheres to the transfer tape.

3. Gently pull transfer tape and make sure the entire design lifts with it.

4. Place your design on top of the tumbler. Since your tumbler is curved/round, start with the left side and then roll the design on. If you try to place it flat onto the tumbler you’ll get a crooked or bubbled design. *Use both hands!

5. Use the scraping tool to smooth the design onto the tumbler

6. Slowly remove the transfer tape

I can’t believe back to school season is already here!

Be sure to come visit me at Polka Dotted Blue Jay or on social media for more crafty inspiration and pretty projects. Tell me you’re from Shop Craftables when you say hi!

For more on Elise, check out her blog Polka Dotted Blue Jay, follow her Instagram and her Pinterest!