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Use Glitter Vinyl instead of Rhinestones

April 24, 2016

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Welcome back to another Silhouette® Sunday. Are you like me and LOVE the look of rhinestones but not all the tedious setting of all those little stones?

Use glitter vinyl instead of rhinestones with your Silhouette machine

 

There is a way to get the look WITHOUT rhinestones.

glitter vinyl_createandbabble

These are the tank tops that I made for my daughter, her bridesmaids and me for my daughter’s wedding a few years ago.

Bride_tank_createandbabble
bridesmaids_tank_createandbabble They look and sparkle just like rhinestones but it’s glitter heat transfer vinyl!
Mother-of-the-Bride-tank_createandbabble

When I set out to make these tops, it was my intention to use rhinestones. I bought the kit from Silhouette America and thought I was all set to go. But I learned one thing: I DO NOT have the patience for this! It seems that some people have absolutely no trouble using rhinestones – not me.

I thought I followed the directions, but I just didn’t have the patience. Very few of the stones went into the little holes, and the ones that did were upside down. I got so frustrated! Anybody want my leftover rhinestones??? Maybe I’ll try again at some point but in the meantime I’ll stick to glitter heat transfer vinyl. I love it!

My favorite glitter HTV (heat transfer vinyl) is from Specialty Graphics. I have tried other brands, but this is my favorite. I’m telling you, this stuff is amazing. If you try it, you may never go back to rhinestones! It is soooo easy to weed. You just peel back the negative space.
Mother-of-the-Bride-tank_createandbabble
As you can see on the tanks above, I didn’t change the all of the fonts to “rhinestones”. I just cut out the letters as they are. (MOB = Mother of the Bride – in case you were wondering!) Another great thing about using glitter HTV is that you don’t HAVE to just use certain size holes to match the size of your rhinestones! That means you can adjust the size of whatever file you’re using without worrying about the size of the holes!!! I love that!

Here’s a step-by-step:

First, I chose a rhinestone file or if you have the Designer Edition of Silhouette, you can create your own. For this tutorial, I am using a simple bicycle. (I love riding my bike and am so excited that weather is finally warming up and I can hit the trails soon!)

I resized to the size I wanted and to fit the scrap of glitter vinyyl that I had. Using the box tool, I drew a box around the shape (to make it easier to weed). Lay your vinyl (shiny side down) onto the cutting mat. If your design has text, you will need to “mirror” your image. I used the HTV cut setting, but changed my blade depth to 5, speed to 8, and thickness to 15 for this vinyl.

glitter_vinyl_createandbabble

glitter_vinyl_weeding_createandbabble
Look at how easy the weeding is. Just pull up a corner and pull the negative stuff away!
glitter-vinyl-weeded_createandbabble
It comes off in one nice piece! Now all that’s left to do is iron it on!


glitter-vinyl-iron_createandbabble
I use the highest setting on my iron and lay a pillow case over the vinyl and press down for about one to two minutes. Let it cool a few seconds and peel away the plastic.
glitter-vinyl_createandbabble
glitter-vinyl_bike-createandbabble
And you are left with what looks like stones! The look without the fuss and time! So much sparkle, I love it!

glitter-vinyl-butterfly_createandbabble
And because I love it so much, I made another tank top with a pretty, sparkly butterfly!

Here is Where I Party!

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Filed Under: Crafts, Silhouette, Tutorials, Wedding DIYs

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Comments

  1. Carrie @ My Favorite Finds says

    April 12, 2013 at 3:25 pm

    Hi, Jeanie. How much glitter HTV did you order from Specialty Graphics? I noticed that it comes in feet. Thanks! I’m thinking of making a Minnie Mouse shirt for my daughter, so I was curious how much I’d need.

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      April 12, 2013 at 4:58 pm

      Hi Carrie, I order a foot at a time.

      Reply
  2. Heather says

    April 12, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    Very clever and very pretty! Thanks so much for sharing at Project Inspired linky party – I pinned this to our group party pinboard! Tx! Heather xo

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      April 12, 2013 at 10:16 pm

      Thanks Heather!

      Reply
  3. Lori @ A Bright and Beautiful Life says

    April 17, 2013 at 11:40 am

    Super cute, Jeanie. You make the cutest things!!! I need to get a silhouette and then learn how to use it.{Especially since I have a grandbaby girl due to make her appearance in about a month.}

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      April 17, 2013 at 12:32 pm

      Thanks Lori! Is she your first grandchild?

      Reply
  4. LinhC says

    May 10, 2013 at 10:32 pm

    What a good idea! I’ve stayed away from the Silhouette rhinestones too because I thought they would be tedious to work with. Question: what do you do with the negative “template” you’re left with?

    Reply
  5. Sandy says

    August 11, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    Found you via the Silhouette linky party at Under the Table & Dreaming. These turned out so cute. I have just started working with my Cameo and so far I absolutely love it. I think rhinestones would be too fiddly for me too, so I will give this a try. Thanks so much for sharing it 🙂

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      August 12, 2013 at 9:46 pm

      Thanks and thank you for stopping by Sandy! No more rhinestones for me! I’ll stick with glitter vinyl all the way!

      Reply
  6. Tonya says

    August 16, 2013 at 7:10 pm

    I have looked at the web site to purchase the glitter vinyl, but their is no mention about how this holds up to washing. Any special instructions?

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      August 16, 2013 at 8:11 pm

      I recommend hand washing just to be safe, but mine went through the washer (turned inside out) on the gentle cycle and came out fine.

      Reply
  7. Hayley says

    September 17, 2013 at 12:02 am

    Hello– I went to he specialty graphics website and noticed some other products they have like fashion flex. Do you know if these can be used with the silhouette too?

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      September 17, 2013 at 9:22 pm

      I’m not 100% sure, but I don’t see why not.

      Reply
  8. creativelifesxm says

    December 23, 2013 at 12:11 pm

    What a great tutorial! I agree that rhinestones are fiddly. I was wondering about the glitter and now I know I’m going to give it a shot! I love what you made.

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      December 26, 2013 at 10:41 am

      Thank you! Once I tried the glitter vinyl, I never went back to rhinestones!

      Reply
  9. Gina says

    December 26, 2013 at 3:42 pm

    This is so cute. I have to try this vinyl.

    Reply
  10. Trina says

    January 15, 2014 at 2:50 am

    Great tutorial! What font or file did you use for the Bride tank top? Did you also make the hanger?

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      January 15, 2014 at 8:17 am

      Thanks Trina! “Bride” is a Silhouette file. And no, I didn’t make the hanger. I found it on Etsy.

      Reply
  11. Anne says

    February 16, 2014 at 9:00 am

    When using the glitter vinyl with rhineatone setting do you use a transfer material to get the cutouts off your cutting mat to iron on? I don’t see that mentioned.

    Reply
  12. Angie says

    March 3, 2014 at 10:18 pm

    I just have to tell you thank you so much for this tutorial. I ran across it while googling how to use rhinestones with my silhouette. I have done this and will never ever even try to do rhinestones. This is amazing. I needed to make a shirt for my daughter for her sister’s birthday party and what I did was amazing with your help!! I used your settings exactly and it has never been easier. Even way easier than the silhouette vinyl. When I placed my order and they asked me where I heard about them, I said your blog. Thanks so much!!! P.S. Their product is amazing as well! 🙂

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      March 3, 2014 at 10:44 pm

      Thank you so much Angie! I’m so glad that the post was helpful to you! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know, I really appreciate it.

      Reply
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    March 12, 2014 at 5:40 am

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    Reply
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    March 12, 2014 at 5:50 am

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  15. Tanya says

    May 14, 2014 at 7:34 pm

    Jeanie,
    This is perfect. I haven’t tried rhinestones because it looks so time consuming. Well and I have boys. I need to find some of that glittery vinyl. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  16. Sandy T. says

    November 24, 2014 at 11:30 am

    I am finally going to do this project! Would you recommend I was the new t-shirts I bought prior to adding the glitter vinyl?

    Reply
    • Sandy T. says

      November 24, 2014 at 11:31 am

      Mean to say “WASH” not “was” 🙂

      Reply
    • Jeanie says

      November 24, 2014 at 11:33 am

      Hi Sandy, yes I recommend washing the new t-shirts first.

      Reply
      • Sandy T. says

        November 24, 2014 at 12:06 pm

        Thanks so much 🙂

        Reply
  17. rosalind says

    January 14, 2015 at 3:36 pm

    I love Love LOVE the butterfly… it is a “negative” shape, surrounded by “crystals” or your glitter paper. How did you do that design with the designer software? Or was it a file? I was interested in doing something similar with a vector that I have and pushing it thru the sofware. Is there a “spotlight” or “backlight” tool that you use in the software to surround the “negative” image with the crystal cuts? Any insight would be helpful!

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      January 19, 2015 at 12:27 pm

      Thank you Rosalind! I used a file from the Silhouette online store.

      Reply
  18. Amanda says

    February 20, 2015 at 9:43 am

    I was wondering what font bride was done in? Someone ask I make some of the tanks in that font. I think I may have it already but wanted to confirm.
    Thanks…

    Your stuff is AMAZING!

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      February 22, 2015 at 3:17 pm

      The “bride” shape is actually from the Silhouette online store.

      Reply
  19. Teri says

    April 21, 2015 at 10:26 am

    First, I love your site, valuable info!! My problem – I followed your instructions for cutting the glitter vinyl. My test cut was perfect but when I sent the project to my Cameo only parts of it cut. This was my first glitter vinyl attempt.

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      April 21, 2015 at 11:22 am

      Hi Teri! First ; ) Thank you so much!!! That means the world to me!!! Secondly, try slowing down the speed even more for the glitter vinyl. And if your blade is a little older, then I would bump it up by one. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  20. Debbie says

    May 11, 2015 at 2:35 pm

    Great post! Are you using the “Specialty Glitter” vinyl? I have the description it says you need to use a “60° vinyl cutting blade”. I’m using my Pazzles machine and I’ve never had to switch blades for vinyl. Did you just use your regular blade? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Jeanie says

      May 12, 2015 at 10:13 am

      Hi Debbie. Thanks! And yes, I just use the regular cutting blade. I don’t even know what a 60 degree vinyl cutting blade is ; )

      Reply
  21. Debbie says

    May 16, 2015 at 9:36 pm

    Thanks! Ordering now. Absolutely love this idea!

    Reply
  22. Jacqueline says

    June 27, 2015 at 11:10 pm

    Hi my name is Jacqueline and I just wanted to drop you a quick note here instead of calling you. I came to your Use Glitter Vinyl instead of Rhinestones {Silhouette Project} – Create and Babble page and noticed you could have a lot more traffic. I have found that the key to running a successful website is making sure the visitors you are getting are interested in your niche. There is a company that you can get targeted visitors from and they let you try the service for free for 7 days. I managed to get over 300 targeted visitors to day to my site. Check it out here: http://t8k.me/wl

    Reply
  23. Tonny Tran says

    May 29, 2016 at 10:50 am

    You are so creative and skillful. Your guides are useful for me but I don’t know how to get glitter HTV for the job, thanks Jeanie for sharing your great DIY tip.

    Reply
  24. Edward says

    October 2, 2017 at 7:24 am

    Awesome idea!!.. So where do you purchase your plain tees?

    Reply
  25. william says

    February 26, 2018 at 6:14 am

    great!! I would love to try glitter vinyl after reading this! thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  26. Sheri says

    April 7, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    This is genius! Pinned! Thank you for sharing at the To Grandma’s House We Go DIY, Crafts, Recipes and More Wednesday LInk party! Hope to see you again next week.

    Reply
  27. Jann Olson says

    April 9, 2018 at 5:44 pm

    What a clever idea! I love the look!! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

    Reply
  28. Vee says

    March 10, 2019 at 3:41 am

    So cute!!! I’m pinning this idea and can’t wait to try this out Thank you so much for sharing!!!

    Reply
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    December 5, 2022 at 10:27 pm

    I really appreciate to read this blog it is very helpful and very efficiently written information. My site :
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Trackbacks

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  10. 2resolution says:
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    2colloquy

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