Make this witchy reusable cup wrap
Cup wraps are definitely one of my favorite projects to make. Not only are the reusable cups more eco-friendly, but you can customize one for every season. It’s a goal of mine to have a reusable coffee cup for Halloween, Fall, Christmas, and even one for the summer. The reusable cups are perfect for your on-the-go drinks from home. Or bring them to your favorite coffee shop and have the barista fill your order in your cup.
Not only are these cups convenient to have on hand, but you can customize them as gifts. Make one for each member of your family so no one has to take plastic cups from to-go places anymore!
What you’ll need
This is a pretty simple project as far as the supplies you will need. You will need a small piece of permanent vinyl. I used leftover black Cricut vinyl from another project. Make sure it’s permanent vinyl because you don’t want the vinyl to peel up from your cup once you have put the designs on. The next thing you will need is the cup you are going to wrap your vinyl decoration with. The cup I chose was a reusable cup I purchased on Amazon for boba tea, but they have several variations on Amazon. Your local craft or thrift store might also sell single-use cups too. You’ll also need this free Witches Brew Cup Wrap SVG.
Make sure your cup is made of glass or plastic and the outside texture is smooth to the touch. If the texture is gritty or uneven it will make the vinyl difficult to stick and stay on. The last thing you will need is contact paper. The contact paper will help you adhere your design to your cup without disturbing the vinyl design.
What you’ll do
The first step in this project is to wash your cup thoroughly. Regardless if you purchased the cup at a thrift store or bought it new, you are going to want to clean your cup. Use warm soapy water to clean the outside and inside. After you wash your cup, wipe it down with a towel so your cup is completely dry.
Next, measure your cup’s length and width to determine what size you want the wrap to be in Cricut Design Space. My cup was very narrow, so I measured 6×4 inches. You are also going to want to note how close you want the back of the wrap to be. For a closer seam, make sure to account for how large your design has to be in Cricut Design Space.
Once you have your measurements, upload the free SVG that comes with this project. Select the ‘cut only’ option and upload the design to a new project. Use the arrows to drag to the measurements of your cup.
Cut out your design by placing your chosen vinyl on a cutting mat. I always use blue painter’s tape to secure my vinyl down. I have found that this method keeps the vinyl from moving even when your cutting mat is no longer sticky. Before you select cut make sure your Cricut is set to cut ‘vinyl’ either in Cricut Design Space or with the knob on the Cricut itself.
After your design has been cut, carefully peel the entire piece up from the cutting mat. I find that removing it from the mat prior to weeding in more detailed projects is easier. Cut around any bulky free space so you just have the piece you cut and a small uncut edge.
Very carefully peel away the excess vinyl, making sure each tiny cut is undisturbed. You might need tweezers or a Cricut tool to assist in this step. After you have peeled all the excess vinyl, weed out the inner pieces. The vinyl in this step is very tiny to be sure to use precision when weeding out the small pieces in the design.
When your weeding is complete, cut out a piece of contact paper large enough to fit over your vinyl piece. Use the Cricut tool pictured, or a credit card, and gently push out any air between your vinyl design and the contact paper. Peel up your contact paper, making sure to capture all the tiny vinyl pieces in your design. If you are peeling up the contact paper and the vinyl isn’t coming with it, push the contact paper back down and go over it again with the Cricut tool. Sometimes invisible or tiny air bubbles will stay trapped inside preventing your design from coming up in a single pull.
Now that your design is all on your contact paper, you are going to want to lay it on your cup. Starting with the middle, place your contact paper with vinyl designs on your reusable cup. With one side at a time, push the contact paper down, so it wraps around your cup. Even though the design is beveled because of the round shape, your design will be even once it’s displayed on your reusable cup.
Holding the cup with one hand and the contact paper with the other, gently lift the contact paper off leaving the vinyl design. Push each shape on your cup down firmly with your fingers to ensure the design stays in place.
Tips and tricks
Permanent vinyl is not dishwasher safe. Once you have used vinyl to decorate a reusable cup you will have to hand wash it after each use.
This project can be a little tedious. Don’t get upset if every little piece of vinyl isn’t perfect. Part of the fun is making it unique to you!
Remember if this is your first time working with creating a reusable cup wrap you may need to practice a few times before you get it just right.
This project is perfect for leftover vinyl scraps. Your vinyl does not even have to be the same color. Simply piece it together on your Cricut mat and cut away.
For this project, I used Cricut Permanent Vinyl but in my experience, Oracle Permanent Vinyl works just as well if not better, and sells for a dollar a sheet at Michael’s craft stores.
For more Cricut crafts, follow me on Creative Fabrica’s The Artistry blog!
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