3D Paper Turkey - A Cricut Project





This is a great Thanksgiving project for kids - it's pretty quick and easy to make!


 Cliff Notes:

  • Made with free shapes, all included in the step by step below.
  • Cardstock is from the packs at Michaels that are often for sale 4 for $10.  About 9 sheets of brown, 1 of black, 2 of orange, and a scrap of yellow for the beak
  • I used an elmers glue pen and a glue stick (but there are probably better options... those are just what I had on hand)

By Step:



It's easy to find a scalloped circle and upload it to design space.  For this project, I looked to see what is already in design space, and after searching for "scalloped circle" and filtering by free, I found this blue one that looks to be perfect for this project.  It has a green a on it, which is supposed to signify "free for access members", but I am NOT an access member.  I do not pay anything to use design space.  And this circle was still free for me.  If it is no longer free when you try to make this (the free items change regularly, but I suspect that since this is a basic shape, it may always be free) it is still very simple to google "scalloped circle" and upload one.
 
You can right click on these to download them, upload them to design space, cleaning them up, and then resize them to 3 wide and 6 high.  Cut 6 of each.

Using the same scalloped circle from earlier, unlock the size, resize it to 2 wide by 3 high to make it an oval, and cut 7 of them, for the head.

Make another copy of the feather insert, and size this one to 2 wide by 4 high.    This will be the waddle.

Right click on the image above (for the beak), save as, then upload it to design space, clean it up, and size it to 
W 2.782 H 0.783

Using the shape tool, add a circle.  Resize it to .05 and duplicate it - for the eyes.

This is what my design space looked like before I clicked on make it.
  • 6 large scalloped circles for the body
  • 6 feather backs (brown)
  • 6 feather "inserts" (orange)
  • 1 resized feather insert for the waddle
  • 1 beak
  • 7 scalloped ovals for the head
  • 2 0.5 circles for the eyes (black)

 Since I was using 8.5x 11 sheets of paper, I spent some time moving images around and attaching them, to fit the most on each page.  It took a few minutes, but wasn't too hard.

 After I put this together, I decided he needed a hat.  

 For The Hat

  • 1 circle 2.5
  • 1 circle 3
  • 1 rectangle 2 x 4.5

Assembling The Turkey

 Fold each of the scalloped circles in half.  Glue the outside sides together - leaving the center of the "taco" open.


Once they were all attached, I laid them flat and cut straight across the bottom so the body would sit flatter.

Repeat the same process for the head.  Include cutting the straight edge, if you want to add the hat.


Add the beak and eyes.  I struggled a lot with the beak and still think there's a better design..  but this is what I did:


Glue the inserts to the feathers

Add the feathers to the middle of the body.  Leave space in the middle (at the top) so there is room to attach the head.


For the hat, roll the rectangle, attach to make a tube, and add the small circle to the top, larger circle on the bottom.


Add the waddle in the middle of the body - and you are all done!

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How To Use VLR To Remove HTV - Fixing A Cricut Fail


Cliff Notes:
  •  VLR - Amazon is the only place I know of to find it.
  • Apply to the back of the fabric.  Stretch the fabric.  Peel off the htv.
  • Super easy.  Worked great!
  • I reapplied a new design over the area where I had used the VLR, and it went on beautifully!  No problems at all.
There are examples below, and a video of it at the bottom - showing how well the vinyl peels off!  



I love this pillow (second from the left), despite my mistakes in not welding the pumpkins to the truck...    But my husband and I did not get married in 1993.  That's when our twins were born.  We got married in 1991.  Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking either.  :-)


VLR is something I had heard mentioned a few times on different facebook groups, so when I placed my last amazon order, I added a can to my order.  It has sat on the shelf ever since.  I was intimidated by it.

Today, Design Space was down.  (Still is, actually...)  so it was a good time to try the VLR.  My first challenge was opening it.  Although I knew it couldn't actually be aerosol, when I saw I had to puncture the top (which the label says is plastic, but sounds more like metal when tapped) it made me nervous to use a hammer and nail.  I couldn't think of another way to do this, so a hammer and nail it was.

That worked fine!  
The next instruction was to remove the red tip from the spout  - my spout did not have a red tip.  The cap appeard to be missing.  (So once I was done, I taped the top close, because this smells like something that might evaporate, and it is not exactly cheap.)
(For these pillows I had used the "backside" of some clearance fabric..  so the inside of the pillow case has a design, as shown here. The wet spot is where I applied the VLR)

The next instructions are to turn the item inside out and apply the liquid to the back of the design. That sounds easy enough, but it is actually a little tricky, if you cannot see the design through the fabric, and do not want to remove all of the vinyl.  Still, I managed well enough.  I ended up losing both the 3 and the 9 - but I don't mind replacing two small numbers, I was replacing one anway!

Once you apply the liquid, you stretch the fabric, and then when turned right side out, the vinyl comes off REALLY easily!  Or at least it did for this one!


In addition to my date mistake, I had this pillow, that my sister in law had asked me to make.  She brought the cover.  I applied the htv.  Then two weeks later, my nephew changed his mind and enlisted in the Navy, instead of the Air Force.  She had suggested I just add all of the branches to the pillow and make the Navy the largest.. but I thought I would like it better if I could remove the htv and start fresh.

For the this second one, the material didn't have as much stretch, so the vinyl didn't pull up quite as much on it's own.  It still was REALLY easy to pull up a corner and peel the vinyl right off!


(a quick video of the htv peeling off, to show you how easily it comes up!)

I reapplied a new htv design over the area where I had used the VLR to remove the old, and it went on beautifully - no problems at all!

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ANOTHER REMOVAL
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I often tackle projects purely out of curiosity.  This is one of those.  🙂 I made my husband a t-shirt more than a year ago.  It's one of his favorites, and I'm sure it has been washed more than 40x by now.  The vinyl was wearing off.  In places, the color was gone, with just the vinyl residue left behind. So I used VLR & removed the vinyl.  So far, while wet, you can see the design strongly - the shirt has faded around the design.  So I can reuse the shirt only if the new design covers the old - or if I use the exact same design. 

Even after washing and drying the shirt, and ironing over these marks - they remained.
I think because it was more that the shirt around the vinyl had faded...  

So I recovered it with the exact same design.  :-)

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https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2017/09/cricut-which-vinyl-do-i-need-where-do-i.html


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Using A Plain Old Regular Iron For HTV Cricut Projects

I've been crafting at least weekly, often daily, with a cricut machine now for 6 years.   And I have never used a heat press.

I just use a plain old iron.  I set it between cotton and wool.
No steam.

It's a thrift store iron.  It cost me $2.  It's good and heavy - and old.  Probably a 1980's model. 

And my projects hold up great.  I have no issues at all, which is why I have never felt the need to look at heat presses.   I know this is not the case for everyone, and if I were to do this as a business, I'd probably consider a heat press because I think it might be faster when doing a lot of shirts all at once.  But I really don't know, because I've never actually used one.  :-)

Note - I do not use Cricut Vinyl.  I tried some when I first got my machine, but it was the priciest option available to me at the time, and I didn't find anything about it to be special.  I quickly switched to Sizzix, and then eventually switched to a variety of other brands - Transwonder, Caregy, HTVront, & Craftables are some of my favorites.  Find links, and price comparisons, here:

Here's a look at how I do what I do:

parchment paper, silicone baking sheet, thrift store iron, on an ironing board.

I work right on my ironing board.  I think it works so well for me because it's the perfect height for me. It's an antique, all wooden, ironing board, if that makes any difference.  It  belonged to my husbands grandmother.   My craft space is a corner of my laundry room, so the ironing board  is just convenient for me.  

Others may tell you it HAS to be a solid surface, not a padded ironing board.  I don't know what to tell them - this is what I have always used.  I suspect the silicone baking sheets may be what makes the difference, but again, I don't know.  

 Silicone Baking Sheet

I use silicone baking sheets inside my items when ironing.  It reflects the heat back, and gives me a nice flat surface inside the item..  Ok, I don't really know why this helps.    Its just how I do it, and it works well for me, so I keep using them.  :-)  

 A few have  messaged me, they  did not have silicone baking sheets and wondered what I would recommend in their place.  Honestly, I recommend ordering silicone baking sheets..  but after taking to one woman a bit, we came up with the idea to wrap piece of cardboard from a cereal box in aluminum foil.  I heard back from one of the women who tried this and it worked great!  I haven't heard back from the other, so maybe it didn't work at all for her.  I don't know.

 Cover With Parchment Paper

I place parchment paper over the carrier sheet.  Most of the time. I've done a few items without, and it's sometimes fun to watch the carrier sheet melt up a little...  but I'm usually afraid I will mess up the design if I do not use the parchment paper.   YOU CAN OVER HEAT HTV AND BURN IT.  So be cautious at first, do a test design on scrap fabric to get used to your iron.  I'd recommend that even if you are using a heat press.  

 I have used wax paper when I was out of parchment paper.  Apparently you shouldn't do that, it could transfer the wax from the paper to your item and ruin your t-shirt or pillow or whatever.    I only did it a few times, and it was cheap wax paper, so maybe there wasn't enough wax to cause a problem.  I'm not recommending it, I'm just telling you that I am very casual with the "rules" and so far have not had any problems.  


 PRESS


 I press for 15-30 seconds in each area.  Just press  the iron down, do not move the iron back and forth as you would if you were ironing.  

I usually start with 15 seconds or so, then try to peel back the carrier sheet.  If the vinyl sticks to the carrier sheet, I put the carrier sheet back down and press it a few seconds more.

You CAN iron too long, or at too high of a temp, and burn the htv.  So go slow, until you get used to the process - or better yet, cut out a test design and practice on scrap fabric, to find the right temperature and time for your iron.

NOTE - Some vinyl is "cold peel".  Eventually you'll be comfortable with the difference, but when starting out, be really sure to read the description.  Cold Peel means you have to let the vinyl cool for a few seconds before you pull off the carrier sheet.  That can be confusing at first, because it will look like the htv is not attaching to the fabric, if you do not let it cool first.  The nice thing about htv is that you can always iron again - so err on the side of caution.  

 CHECK FOR FIBERS
The most important step!  Hold your item up to a good light, and look for the fibers to show through the vinyl.  Your vinyl should now have the pattern of the material showing through it.

If you cannot see the pattern, put the parchment paper back on top, and press again.

Another example - this is on a t-shirt

And one more example.  This particular shirt has been washed MANY times.
  
When I have had htv peel, It was always, always, because I was in a hurry and didn't check to make sure I could see the fibers through the vinyl.  I'm so used to this working so very well, that sometimes I get careless and do not check well enough.  Since I don't sell, it's never an issue for me to go back, those very few times, and iron the loose section back down.  In every case, the part that didn't stick was small detail  - in one case VERY small text on a t-shirt, in another a small line in a pumpkin design on a textured pillow.  Simply place the parchment paper over the design and press again.

This is one of my husbands favorite shirts.  It's been washed dozens of times.  The top and bottom are htv, the center circle is print and cut on avery transfer paper.  It was all pressed with an iron, and it has held up great!  It's just starting to show a little wear (which is more noticeable in the photo than in person) on the left side of the circle. Nothing is peeling, but the print and cut paper does tend to wear a bit more in repeated washings.

I do not wash anything special.  Everything gets tossed in the regular wash, and if it happens to be inside out, it's only because that's how it was tossed in the hamper.  I line dry in the summer and use a dryer all winter.  No problems with either.  :-)


For a few years, it wasn't unusual for me to make 5-10 shirts in a week, we have a huge family.  And grandchildren.  And  two sons who have been  deployed, so that was a LOT of red friday t-shirts...  But I do not sell.  I wish I could, but it is just way too stressful for me.  


I won't tell you you don't need a heat press.  I don't really  know what you need.  All I can tell you is that I most certainly do not need a heat press.  Thankfully - because as you can see here, I really don't have room for one! 

You can tour my very small cricut/soap making/sewing space here - http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2018/04/my-cricut-craft-space.html  


Tips For Using HTV:
Remember, for HTV you place the HTV Shiny side down on the mat
And you Reverse, or Mirror the design.  You're cutting on the BACK of the material.  Once weeded, you'll flip the design onto the fabric, and iron [or heat press] it on.

I have never felt the need to purchase a heat press.  My iron has always worked great for me

 


Price Comparisons, Brands of vinyl  I personally like, Price Guidelines... 

 

How To Remove HTV
If You Make A Mistake

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Fall Truck Snowglobe - 3d Paper Project With Cricut

I took a winter svg, and turned it into a fall svg.
The  process I used  could be used to change the basic card into any design you wished - spring, summer, fall - birthday, dinosaur , unicorn- you name it!
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Mermaid & Sea Themed FREE svgs

This post is sorted into Three Sections.  First are the commercial use svgs, followed by Personal Use Svgs, followed by "Projects" - which is where you will find things like cards, earrings, and various other svgs for specific projects.

Related Links:
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Mermaid Themed Free SVGS
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COMMERCIAL USE
Commercial use svgs can be used on projects you plan to sell.  You may not sell the svg, but you can use the svg on an item and sell that item.

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