are made
Have you seen animal shaped paperclips? It got me thinking, I could make my own. So I gave it a try. We are cat people so black silhouettes of cats it was going to be. I think they would work well together as a group or just as a single. They work as a bookmark, journal clips or just a regular paperclip. They would also make cute gifts. These bookmarks are made using a Cricut.
I cut out silhouettes of cats on my Cricut Air 2 (thanks to Cricut for the machine). For this project, I needed each shape twice, one regular, and one mirror image. A front and a back if you will. Here is the free svg file I created if you are interested in doing the exact same project. [SVG file]
If you need to know how to upload an SVG into Cricut's Design Space 3, here is a Youtube video showing how-to do that.
The next step, I ran each piece through my Xyron sticker maker to attach adhesive to the backs of them.
Here they all are as stickers.
I wanted to use black paperclips but we couldn't find them. So, I made them. Easy enough, using a permanent black marker, I covered the paperclip in black.
It took two coats to get a really good coverage. Make sure to check the sides.
Place the cats together sandwiching the paperclip inside. Push around all sides to adhere, rub off any excess adhesive. You'll notice a bit of gray sticking out on mine. I used two sided cardstock that was black on one side and gray on the other. If I were to do it again, I would use solid black. So I touched up the gray with my permanent black marker.
I wanted to try a few different products and cover the cats for a more permanent lifespan. The first product I tried was black nail polish. Which I liked but I wasn't thrilled with the shine from the polish. The cardstock also absorbs a lot of nail polish, so don't use expensive polish.
Next, I tried matte Mod Podge. I just applied it with my fingertip making sure not to have too much on either side. Just make sure to check it. When I ran my finger over one side, it would build up more around the edges on the opposite side. I liked the look of the matte surface. The Mod Podge made the cat rather rubbery.
Finished!
Materials:
- black cardstock
- Personal cutting machine (Cricut Air 2)
- free SVG file
- Xyron sticker maker with adhesive
- Large paper clips
- black permanent marker (Sharpie)
- matte Mod Podge
- black Nail Polish
I was generously provided the materials by Cricut in order to write this post. This post contains affiliate links