Vinyl Cups - A Gift to Share

This summer our quilt group was blessed with the opportunity to help prepare a young lady for college dorm life.  A member of our group had a girl living with her family this summer as the girl's family prepared to enter the mission field.  During that time it was brought to our attention that this girl was in need of a few items for her upcoming dorm room in college.  Our group jumped at the chance to bless this young woman with an abundance of necessary and fun items for her dorm.

My Mom, daughter and I prepared a large bowl and filled it with various items for her room.  We added some necessities like washcloths, sharpies, pens, spiral notebooks etc.  But we also included some just for fun items.

This is the bowl overflowing with all the fun things we prepared.

 

I like the way clear plastic makes anything look more festive.

The most exciting fun item was a personalized cup made with stick on vinyl.  I had several of the cups in the closet so we pulled them out and began to transform them.  I have a Cricut machine that a friend blessed me with but have not used it very much.  This project was a great way to practice some new Cricut ideas.

Here are the cups we made:

The clear one was for the young lady moving into the dorm.

 

The supplies needed for this project are:

 

Clear Plastic Cup (I used the insulated cups with lids from the Dollar Tree)

Sticky Plastic Vinyl (You can buy the expensive rolls in the Cricut section or look in the regular scrapbook/craft section for the sheets.  Mine cost 1/3 the cost of the roll)
Die cut machine and designs or punches and scissors
Clear Contact paper (to transfer the design)

Here is how the cups started.

These vinyl sheets are in the scrapbooking and crafts section.  They are a lot cheaper than the rolled vinyl.

Here is a close up of the vinyl tag.  I purchased mine at JoAnn's.

 

Clean your plastic cup with soap and water.  Make sure it is completely dry before applying the vinyl.  Next select your design and cut it out.  If you do not have a die cutting machine you can use punches, or trace a design on the vinyl and cut it out with scissors.  I wanted each of my cups to have a monogram and an additional design for the back.  But the designs are limitless.

This was really fun looking and thought it was a great reminder.

 

The cup with the D was for my daughter and she wanted a heart and star.

The open design of the butterfly will change based on what liquid is in the cup.

 

Once you have cut your designs there is a simple way to apply it to the cup.  I used the clear contact method.  I cut a piece of clear contact paper slightly larger than my design.  I then placed the contact paper over the design and peeled it away from the backing paper.  This will temporarily adhere your design to the contact paper.  Then place your design in the correct spot and rub all over your design making sure to really secure the edges.  Then simply peel off the contact paper and the vinyl sticks to the cups.  This method of transfer worked really well on the curved cups.

The cups need to be hand washed.  I have not tried one in the dishwasher but I feel like it would make the vinyl peel up.  Also the insulated cups do not work well in the dishwasher.  You can use this method on any cup, plastic or glass.  It is a fun way to create a functional and really fun gift. 

The lady who the girl was staying with also had a daughter who was college bound.  I made her a cup for her dorm room also.

 

There are lots of fun things you can do with the sticky vinyl.  So the next time you are browsing the craft isles pick some up and have fun.

 

Danna