Have you ever done something and then thought why haven’t I done this sooner?

That’s what I think every single time I utilize the pencil transfer method.

When my sister decorated her college graduation cap last year, it was absolutely stunning.  Stupid me thought she had completed it by hand, but she let me in on a little secret – that she used the pencil transfer method.

The what?!

So, here’s the thing: you find something you want to copy – purchase digital art,  print a word, phrase, or image from the computer, etc. Then, using the side of a pencil – rub it all over the back side of the image (like a carbon copy!).  After the back is completely covered in pencil markings, place the paper on the object you want to decorate and trace the outline of the image.  This will leave a penciled outline so you can trace and color in however you want.

Genius isn’t it?

So, after I built my daughter’s wagon from Ana White’s tutorial, I wanted to stencil her name on just like Jaime Costiglio did on her wagon.  Because honestly, the wagon she designed was absolutely stunning.  However, my luck always seems to fail me and every stencil I could find was either way too small or way too big.  That’s when I had the genius idea to use the pencil transfer method. And it worked incredibly!

So, with college graduation so close to the holidays, I decided to use the method once more for my own graduation cap.  I had seen something similar on Pinterest, so I found a simple map online, traced it, and colored it in with gold.  I then found the circle vine monogram and laid that over time, stenciled it, and colored it in with silver paint markers.  Finally, I had my sister use Photoshop to design the writing and I finished it off with tracing and coloring in with silver.  I absolutely loveeee the way it turned out!

I also had in my mind that I was going to make a Santa cookie plate this holiday season because I really wanted to use my daughter’s footprint.  Over the past couple of years I’ve shared this salt dough ornament and this “thumb body loves you” magnet.  I just didn’t have one of her foot! So, I found the cutest plate idea on Pinterest and decided to recreate it.  The majority of the plate is freehanded.

Except for the “cookies for Santa” writing.  Because I’m pretty sure I wrote it 30 times before I walked over to the computer and types something up.  I’m SO glad I did, because it made it 10 times better!

And so, on the sixth day of Christmas gifts, ONE lucky winner will receive: a decorated to-go mug

Because I just HAD to use the same process on something I gave you.  And I love it so much that I may decide to decorate a bunch for gifts!

So, don’t forget to enter the giveaway (by clicking THIS LINK)!  Because ONE lucky winner will get this mug, a 1lb bag of organic whole elderberries, a box of macarons, a wire bow ring, gingerbread body products, and a cowl!