We’ve all been there. We have a special someone involved in a school play, dance competition, cheerleading competition, drill team competition, or something similar. Often, we stop by the grocery store and grab a quick bouquet of flowers to give them after the performance.

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to create something a little more unique. I’ve been making things for this client since I was 16 years old… and I’m now 63! That’s a lot of years coming up with new and different ideas, but I love a good challenge!

She came to me and wanted something special for two of her granddaughters who were competing in the regional high school drill competition. This was an unusual opportunity for these two sisters of different ages to be on the same team competing together. My client wanted to create a special memory for these two sisters. High schools in Utah often have a school allegiance that spans generations for the families that have attended and graduated from them. This family is no different. Davis High School here in Kaysville is one of the oldest high schools in Utah and school pride runs deep!

My client wanted me to create a pennant flag to incorporate into a faux flower arrangement. Davis High’s colors are brown and gold which can be difficult at times to work with. I found the vases on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JPXH1JB?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

The flowers came from Taiwan Imports in Salt Lake City, and I made the flags from scratch. The flags were the most challenging as I wanted the background fabric to have a repetition of the Davis Dart logo printed on a field of light gold/yellow fabric.

My old HP printer would print directly on fabric. You can normally do this by cutting an 8 ½” x 11” piece of freezer paper (you can get this by the roll at the grocery store) and ironing it onto a piece of light-colored quilting type fabric. The shiny side of the freezer paper is the side that you iron on to your fabric. Then you cut the fabric exactly to the size of the 8 ½” x 11” freezer paper. On my HP ink-jet printer I could run this through and it would print nicely onto the fabric. I would place this in the rear feeder slot on my HP printer and it would pull through and print perfectly right onto the fabric. Sadly… the last three printers I’ve had, an expensive “Brother”, a not so expensive “Cannon”, and my current one, an expensive “Epson” will not work without jamming.

When I replaced my HP, it wasn’t due to the print quality, it was due to the issues it kept having with connecting to my desktop computer. I have been so sad that I can no longer print directly on fabric. This took me to my second option of creating the artwork using my Silhouette Cameo software and using iron-on transfer paper to make my fabric which takes twice as long. It takes a lot for me to give in to failure, and this would not be one of those times!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003K74NV2?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

I try to keep this transfer paper on hand. The only limitation is that it only comes in 8 ½” x 11” sheets of paper. You must follow the instructions exactly for this to work. And you must be sure to test a small corner to ensure the image has indeed gotten hot enough to transfer entirely to the fabric before removing the paper you have ironed onto your fabric. You will know by just lifting a small piece of the corner. There’s a bit of a learning curve here, but once you figure it out, it’s easy.

For my fabric I used a white, 100% cotton, high quality, flour-sack dishtowel which I ironed first so there were no wrinkles.

For the rectangle words, I also designed these in my Silhouette Cameo software. I printed them on water-proof, rip-resistant paper. It will still crease if you aren’t careful with it, but it’s pretty durable. I love this stuff! Then I cut it out on my Silhouette Cameo.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TDPLDSD?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_12&th=1

Once I had the background fabric completed, and the paper words printed and cut, I took them outside and lightly sprayed them with clear Matte Finish 1311 KRYLON sealer.

The reason I do this is because things printed on water-based ink-jet printers will run if they get wet. If you spray them with a clear sealer, the ink will not run.

I cut the flags out, sewed the rectangle paper with printed words onto it, and then glued it to a ¼” wooden dowel. Prior to gluing the flag on, I used wool pom-poms from “Paper & Felt” in Midway, Utah. https://paperandfeltmidway.com/ I cut a small criss-cross in each one, cut a little bit of the wool out behind the criss-cross cut and then hot-glued one pom-pom to the top of each wooden dowel.

Nothing is complete without ribbon sprigs, and these completed the flags. I had a request last week asking where I get my ribbon from. Be watching for an upcoming post on this. I will share all my ribbon sources with you! Then I just needed to arrange the flags and flowers in each ceramic vase.

I didn’t want the flag and flowers to move inside the vase, and so I cut a piece of Sahara Foam (used for faux or dry floral arrangements) and fit it tightly inside each vase. The flag went in first and I put it at an angle. The flowers went in after that.

This was a fun project for me to figure out, and the girls loved them! The oldest, a Senior this year, plans to use hers as part of her Senior Night Display where each Senior on the drill team is highlighted at a special program.

Projects like these take a extra time and planning to pull off, but I feel it’s worth it to help people know how much they mean to you. Each flag was personalized with the girl’s name.

Gift giving is my love language! I absolutely love to find out what things people like and then create gifts specifically for the receiver. This brings LIGHT into the life of both the receiver as well as the giver. It also shows that you not only gave them a tangible gift, but you also gave them the gift of your time in personalizing it specifically for them. I believe time is one of the greatest gifts we can give to others. It’s something we can’t ever get back, and what we do with it matters more than we know!

My wish for you this week is to look for an opportunity to be a Light-Giver and personalize something for someone in your life. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. It can be as easy as a handwritten note or letter, or a handmade card. You could go the extra mile and include their favorite treat or candy bar. You can drop it off in person or pop it in the mail. This will bring a smile to your face when you send or deliver it, and a smile to theirs when they receive it! Everyone loves to get a personalized Light-Filled note in the mail to offset all the bills and junk mail.

I hope you have a fantastic week! And Happy Heart Day on Saturday.

Love Ya, Les 😊

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