My blades, blade holders, tools, and other supplies are still in transit from the retreat last weekend. I had hoped to get them today so I could work on an anniversary card for my DH, but instead I’ll have to do something else for him. And as a result…… I get to post an early Halloween project instead!

This project took several weeks to complete, and even longer to gather up the bottles before I could even get started. In the end, I am very happy with the results and can’t wait to decorate for Halloween (although fall can hold off, I am still enjoying summer).

The prep work:

The first step was to remove the labels and then carefully wash and dry the bottles. Next, I covered them with Etchall glass etching cream so that the chalk paint would stick to them very well. After letting them set for 15 minutes, I scraped off what I could and returned it to the bottle. Then I washed and dried the bottles again. To completely cover the glass so no light would show through I had to spray paint light, even layers six to eight times. Once the bottles were dry, I was ready to work with my KNK digital cutting machine, the KNK Maxx Air 24″.

I decided to go with two color schemes: white/silver and aged/dark. I found several free Halloween labels by searching the web. Most of them were pdf downloads, rather than images so I used the snipping tool in Windows 10 to ‘take pictures’ of the labels. There were several different sources:  liagriffith.com, Brooklyn Limestone, and Love Manor.

Materials:

• 8.5″ x 11″ Printable Vinyl
• Standard (red cap) blade
• Color Inkjet Printer
• Embellishments

Settings (Maxx Air):

• f = 31
• v = 300
• p = 1

Steps:

1. Open Make-the-Cut.
2. Pixel Trace the images.
3. Apply an inset shadow layer as desired to cut inside the ink area (and eliminate white outlines). If using an inset shadow layer for cutting, add alignment marks so that the print and cut registration marks do not move as the layers are hidden or visible.
4. “Hide” the cut layer during the print.
5. Place the printable vinyl in the printer.
6. Send the images to the printer.
7. Place the printable vinyl on the mat, tape down if needed.
8. “Hide” the print layer and “view” the cut layer.
9. Perform the print and cut alignment process and cut the labels. 
10. Apply the labels to the bottles and embellish as desired.

Now I want to collect more bottles and make some more of these!!! If you would like a quick project, my file is included here.