In this tutorial I’m using TeckWrap Craft Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl to create an adorable bud vase for mom this Mother’s Day.
TeckWrap Craft generously provided me with three different colors of their diagonal rainbow vinyl and the required specialty transfer tape as well as some tools in exchange for my honest opinion.
I was not paid for this review and project nor was I pressured to be only positive by TeckWrap Craft. This post and video tutorial reflect my honest impressions of the items they sent.
I used my Cricut Maker to cut the vinyl for this project but it can be cut on any electronic cutting machine. The information about the vinyl, how to apply it as well as the SVG design I used should be helpful to Silhouette and ScanNCut users as well as Cricut users. Please check it out below!
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Please check out the video tutorial below or scroll down for instructions with photos:
What Products Did TeckWrap Craft Provide Me?
As I mentioned above, TeckWrap Craft sent me three colors of their Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl:
- Rainbow
- Tea Rose
- Liseran Purple
They also provided me with their Yellow Grid Transfer Tape for Glitter Vinyl. This is a high tack transfer tape that is crucial when using the Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl.
They also gave me some tools to try:
- Weeding Pen with fun glitter on it
- Tweezers
- Squeegee/Scraper
- Opal Tool Case
- Strong Tack Cutting Mat
I used the tools for the entire project along with the mat and was very impressed with the quality and aesthetics of them. I love tools that are not only functional but pretty too!
Things to Know About the TeckWrap Craft Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl
The TeckWrap Craft Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl is really pretty and a little different than other rainbow vinyls.
It has a glitter-type coating on it that gives it a sparkly sheen. It’s not glitter vinyl per se but it does have a glitter-y feel to it. It really makes the colors come alive.
The glitter coating does, however, make the vinyl a little bit heavier than plain vinyl. The coating also gives it a quasi-nonstick surface that is tricky to impossible to use with regular tack transfer tapes.
I initially tried it with my own clear and paper transfer tapes and while less detailed elements could be transferred with them, anything detailed would not stick at all.
But there is an easy solution – use the TeckWrap Craft High Tack Transfer Tape for Glitter Vinyl. It worked like a dream to transfer both simple and detailed cuts made from the Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl.
After using it, I will never bother with less sticky transfer tapes and the Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl. It’s not worth the effort when the high tack transfer tape does the job with ease!
The high tack transfer tape is exactly that – very, very sticky. Because of that you can’t use it to apply the vinyl to paper – it will rip the paper when you go to remove the transfer tape. And, you can’t use the parchment paper trick when applying the vinyl with the tape (aka covering most of the transfer tape and vinyl with parchment paper while you align the design on a blank and then remove the parchment paper to press down the vinyl). The parchment paper will stick to the tape and it’s very difficult to remove without leaving a lot of it behind on the tape.
I have a great work around for this problem, however, so keep reading. Lol!
Adjusting the Mom Design in Cricut Design Space
I designed the cute but simple Mom SVG for the project. I am giving it away for free through May 8, 2022; please see the Supply List below. After that it will be available for purchase in my Etsy shop.
I’m not going to go into a lot of detail here about how to adjust the design in Cricut Design Space because your bottle or vase is in all likelihood a completely different size that the one I used.
But briefly, here are the basic steps. You will need to Ungroup the design by clicking on it to select it and then clicking Ungroup at the top of the Layers panel.
Then you should Hide the Mom outline layer by clicking on the eye on its layer in the Layers panel.
In this tutorial, I am only using the solid Mom layer and the Hearts layer.
You will need to measure the circumference of your bottle/vase and the height of whatever section on the bottle you intend to put the design around.
Use those dimensions to decide what size you want Mom and the Hearts to be. Keep in mind that you want the design to wrap all the way around your bottle/vase.
You can change the size of each layer by navigating to the Size section of the upper toolbar and then changing either the Width or Height in the appropriate box. If you want to change the height independently from the width, make sure to unlock the lock in the lower left corner of the selection box around the layer or in the middle of the Size section on the upper tool bar.
Once the two layers are correctly sized, line them up side-by-side. Select them both and make sure the overall width of the two elements will fit inside the circumference of your bottle. If not, adjust the spacing until it works.
Now, you’ll need to Attach the designs so they are cut exactly as you see them on screen.
To do this, select both MOM and the hearts and then navigate to the bottom of the Layers panel. Click on Attach.
Cricut Cut Setting for TeckWrap Craft Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl
To cut the Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl with my Cricut Maker, I used the Premium Vinyl – Frosted Gray setting and left the pressure on Default.
This setting will also work with Explore Air machines and the Cricut Joy.
Weeding TeckWrap Craft Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl
Honestly, weeding the Diagonal Rainbow vinyl was really easy! I got it started with the weeding pen and then just slowly pulled it off.
TROUBLESHOOTING TIP: If you are having a lot of problems with the small cuts not wanting to release from the vinyl being removed, you should try cutting the design again but this time set the Pressure to More. I had some problems with the tiny cuts not wanting to separate easily (even though they were cut through) on another project and increasing the pressure fixed it.
Overall, the design is pretty simple so weeding it wasn’t hard at all.
Using the High Tack TeckWrap Craft Transfer Tape for Glitter Vinyl
As I mentioned before, the TeckWrap Craft Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl doesn’t work with normal transfer tape. Because of its glittery coating, you must use a high tack transfer tape. TeckWrap Craft has their own specialty version, Yellow Grid Transfer Tape for Glitter Vinyl, that works perfectly with the Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl.
To apply it to the vinyl, peel the backing sheet away from the transfer tape just a bit, folding it back until about 1″ of the tape is exposed.
I line up the transfer tape on top of the weeded design to make sure it is aligned correctly. Then I press down the exposed sticky part of the transfer tape to one end of the design.
I burnish the tape down on the end and then pull away the backing sheet from the transfer tape as I push forward on it with the squeegee tool until the entire design is covered with transfer tape.
I stop and burnish the tape down in sections as I go with the squeegee. Then I burnish the tape over the entire design really well with the squeegee.
I trim down the design and tape so no tape is exposed around the sides and the bottom edge of the tape is straight enough to use to align the design on the bottle.
Now I slowly peel back about 1″ of the backing sheet from the vinyl to expose the adhesive. I’m almost ready to apply it to the bottle.
Prep the Glass Bottle for the Vinyl
If you are upcycling a bottle (like I did) you will need to remove any labels and glue residue from the bottle first. I peeled the labels off of mine and then used Krud Cutter to remove the adhesive. I then washed it and let it dry.
If you’re interested, the bottle I used was originally a cocktail from a company called On The Rocks. It was The Aviator cocktail but they have others in the same bottle too. It was the perfect size for this bud vase (and a yummy drink too).
Before applying the vinyl to the bottle, you should prep the glass a bit. It’s really easy. Just go over the bottle surface with some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball or if handy, use an alcohol swab like I did.
Make sure to go over all areas where you will apply the vinyl. Don’t touch the areas once they’ve been swabbed. Grease from your fingers can interfere with the vinyl’s ability to adhere to the glass.
Set the bottle aside to dry. It should only take a minute or two at the most.
Transfer the Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl to the Bottle
Placing a design all the way around a rounded surface is tricky. Even though this design is fairly simple, you don’t want to apply it crooked.
I used two pens to hold the bottle in place on its side and then pressed the hearts part of the design down first. I just used my fingers to press it lightly in place.
Normally when applying vinyl to a surface, I place parchment paper between the majority of the sticky side of the design and the surface while I line up the design on the surface. Then I just press down the small portion that is exposed to the surface to get it started, much like I did here.
But as I mentioned earlier, parchment paper will stick to this super sticky transfer tape so you can’t use it. Instead what I did was use the backing paper from the vinyl itself instead. I just left it covering most of the sticky design while wrapping it around the bottle. This also allowed me to wrap it around the bottle during the application process to make sure I correctly lined up the design as I went.
I peel away the backing sheet from the vinyl and transfer tape while I continue to press the design to the glass. I did this very slowly, regularly checking to make sure the design was straight all the way around the bottle by lining up the end of the design with the hearts at the beginning as I went. At one point I trimmed off most of the backing paper that had been removed to make lining up the end of the design with the heart easier (no paper blocking the design).
Once the entire design is pressed to the glass, I use the squeegee to really burnish it to the glass. I had a small air bubble in the O that I pushed out from under it with the squeegee.
After I burnished it really well, I simply peel off the transfer tape to reveal the completed design.
I add a cute bow to the vase and some small flowers. Perfect for mom!!
What Do I Think of the TeckWrap Craft Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl?
I was very happy with the Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl. It comes in beautiful colors, isn’t super thick despite the glitter-y coating, and is a great quality. It works super easily with the specialty transfer tape from TeckWrap Craft.
My only tiny complaint would be that it requires their very specific high tack transfer tape to use easily. That means an additional purchase but honestly, that is a very, very small problem given how pretty and unusual the Diagonal Rainbow Vinyl is.
As I mentioned in my review of the TeckWrap Craft Matte Vinyl, I also really loved the tools!
The weeding pen, tweezers and squeegee are ‘essential tools’ as I have been saying for a while now. What makes these extra special is the fun glitter and rose gold on the weeding pen, the magenta into blue rainbow effect on the tweezers WITH a case and the slight give of the squeegee. These touches make the tools not just functional, but fun too and who doesn’t want that?
The storage case also has a cool finish and it stores the tools in a simple, thin and convenient pouch.
Finally, I was also very impressed with the Strong Tack Cutting Mat. It was very sticky (as the name implies) and really nice quality. My Cricut had no problems using it at all and it may work with Silhouette too.
TeckWrap Craft also makes Standard Tack and Light Tack versions of the mat. All are less expensive than Cricut brand mats, so I would recommend checking them out if your machine’s warranty has expired (you’ve owned it for more than one year).
Honestly, TeckWrap Craft gets a thumbs up from me. Both the Diagonal Rainbow and Matte Vinyls that I’ve had the pleasure to work with along with the tools are great. I look forward to checking out more of their products in the future.
I hope you will give them a try too. The Supply List is linked below!
Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions, please leave me a comment below and I will get back to you soon. Want to just tell me how much you loved this tutorial? Please leave me a comment below – lol!
Suggestions?
I would also appreciate any ideas you may have for topics to cover related to the software for Cricut (Design Space), Silhouette (Studio) or Brother (Canvas Workspace) and any suggestions you may have on projects to create with the Cricut Maker, Cricut Joy, Silhouette Cameo 4 or the Brother Scan N Cut DX. Please leave any requests you have in the comments. I appreciate you taking the time to visit and read my blog. Thanks!
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