How to Decorate a Plastic Container for Christmas
Christmas can be expensive between gifts and throwing holiday parties. You can save a little money by giving homemade gifts. Consider giving homemade baked goods to friends and coworkers instead of buying expensive gifts from department stores. To dress up these homemade goods, put them in plastic containers decorated with a Christmas design.
Things You'll Need
- Plastic container
- Soapy water
- Sponge
- Dish towel
- Vinyl in Christmas colors such as green, red, silver, gold and white
- Scissors
- Clear tape
- Cutting mat
- Template(s) of Christmas design(s)
- Craft knife
Instructions
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Wash your plastic container in soapy water with a sponge and then lay it out on a dish towel to dry.
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Take a piece of your vinyl big enough to fit your Christmas design; make sure that the design you have chosen will fit on your container. Designs may include Christmas trees, ornaments, candy canes, Santa, reindeer or words associated with Christmas. You can also cut out more than one Christmas design, perhaps one for the top of your container and one for the side or multiple designs for the side. Tape the vinyl down to your cutting mat with clear tape. Then tape your template over the top of the vinyl with more clear tape.
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Trace the Christmas design on your template with your craft knife, cutting through both your template and the vinyl below it. Make sure you are cutting clear through all of your layers. You should be able to feel the cutting mat, which will feel very smooth. Make multiple cuts if necessary to get through all of your layers.
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Gently remove your taped down vinyl once you are finished cutting out your Christmas design and peel the design away from the rest of the vinyl. You can use your craft knife or scissors to free any part of the design that was not successfully cut away from the rest of the vinyl.
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Make sure that your plastic container is dry and place it on your work surface in front of you. Peel the backing off of your vinyl Christmas design and place the design on your container. Slowly work any air bubbles out from under the vinyl with your fingers while also rubbing the vinyl onto the container so that it is secure.
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Tips & Warnings
There are a number of die-cutting machines on the market that will cut out designs for you. One such machine, the Cricut, is advertised as being capable of cutting vinyl. Using the machine would save you a lot of time if you have one. Or the cost of purchasing one may be justified if you plan to use it often.
