Easy DIY Fall Door Hanger: From the Dollar Tree

Fall is finally here, my favorite time of the year. It’s also time to decorate, if your looking for something really quick and easy. Then give this cute easy DIY fall door hanger a try. Angie from Burton Avenue.com . came up with this brilliant Dollar Tree makeover idea! She’s one of my very favorite svg designers, and she shares her files for free for a limited time. So check out her website and sign up for her weekly inspiration, to get your crafting ideas going.

What you’ll need

“Hello Fall” svg file from BurtonAvenue.com
Vinyl (I used siser HTV Easyweed Electic, in orange and white)
Iron on protective sheet
Transfer Tape (if not using HTV)
Application Tool
Weeding hook
Heat Press or Iron (If using HTV)
Dollar Tree hanging sign
Electronic Cutter ( Silhouette, Cricut or other)
Hot glue gun
Floral, leaves, ribbon or raffia (from the Dollar Store)

Instructions

Get Angie’s free “Hello Fall” svg file, and import it into your electric cutters program. Follow along with her instructions, and resize the cut file as she suggests. I used Heat Transfer vinyl, it’s what I had on hand. If you’ve never used HTV ( Heat transfer vinyl or iron on vinyl) before. It’s used mostly on clothing, but you can use it on wood, tote bags, leather, notebooks, and shoes. It’s become one of my favorite vinyls. It’s so versatile and comes in so many colors and variations.

Mirror Your Design

When working with HTV, you’ll need to mirror your design or flip your design horizontally in your design program. The reason for flipping your design when working with heat transfer is, you cut the design on the back side of the vinyl (non shiny side). HTV has a clear plastic carrier sheet that covers the top of the vinyl (shiny side). The other side is where the heat-sensitive adhesive is, it’s not sticky to the touch. You cut your design on the adhesive side (non shiny side). The clear plastic sheet on the other side holds your design in place. Until your ready to apply it to your chosen project.

Cutting Your Design

Once you’ve sized and mirrored your design. Place your heat transfer vinyl down on your cutting mat with the shiny side down, dull side facing up. Choose what type of vinyl you are using in your cutting program. So your machine will cut through the vinyl without cutting through the carrier sheet. Once your design has been cut, unload it from your machine.

Weeding Your Design

Now you can weed out the excess pieces of vinyl that are not apart of your design. Once you’ve removed all unwanted vinyl, you can flip it over to see how your final design will look. Look over your design carefully for any pieces of unwanted vinyl you may have missed. A good sharp and thin weeding tool is recommended, like this one here. It gets into those tight and tiny pieces easily.

Iron Your Design

Now that you are done with your weeding your ready to transfer your cut design to your project. Lay the sticky side down where you want it on your project. Then place your protective sheet on top of your design. In order to get your HTV to adhere to the wood. You need a heat press or iron and a little pressure. If your using an iron, make sure the steam is off and on the cotton setting. Another little tip, when heat pressing, don’t use an ironing board. Instead heat press your wood project on a piece of flat smooth wood like a cutting board or table. Something that your not worried about possibly over heating or applying a lot of pressure to.

Temperature

The temp I used for the orange HTV on the wood base, was 300° F for 40 seconds. When heat pressing the HTV, “hello fall” phrase onto the orange HTV. I heat pressed it for 20 seconds so I wouldn’t cause the orange vinyl to bubble up or melt. When your done pressing slowly peel off the carrier sheet while the vinyl is still warm. If any off design is lifting up, you can re-heat it for another few seconds.

Notes: Some types of heat transfer vinyl are “cold peel”. Which means you must allow the vinyl to cool completely before removing the carrier clear plastic sheet.

Once I finished with the vinyl, I decorated the top with some raffia, leaves and a flower. I love how this turned out and it didn’t take me much time at all. Thanks to Angie’s clear directions and easy to follow photos.

I hope you can give this easy DIY fall door hanger from the Dollar Tree a try. It only cost me a couple of dollars and it looks like I spent way more than that.