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I chose this cute doggy image because my own doggy is part dachshund and I thought my boy would love the idea of having Percy on a Pillow. I placed the image into my silhouette studio program and enlarged it a bit so it almost fit the screen. I set my print features to heat transfer material smooth surface and it gave me a blade cut number of 2. The instructions suggest to place the material (which comes in many colors and even several that are flocked, yahoo) into your Silhouette without a cutting mat, so that my friends... is precisely what I did.

You always want to center your material with or without a mat, between the two white roller ball thingys and make sure the edges are actually going to roll right under those, since it will keep your material feeding straight and it won't get crazy on you (yes, this happened to me).

A few screeches later, this baby was cut and ready to peel out. You should peel away the negative space first, then use this handy dandy hook to remove the small cut away portions on the inside of your shape. 

Flip your material over so the sticky side is facing down (your image should now be facing the proper direction, especially if you are using a word) and press in place just a tad. 

With your iron set to the appropriate heat setting for your fabric, iron the material in place with a cloth in between your material and your iron, making sure to apply pressure to each section of your image for at least 60 seconds or so. This part is crucial or your image won't stick properly.

Peel off the plastic backing slowly to be sure the material has transferred and if not go back over any sections that need touching up. If your image is secure, you are good to go and you are finished with your project. See how fast that was? It was even fast to describe the steps! Yay for fast.

Now run don't walk to order some of this fab stuff and be sure to enter 'CONFIDENTIAL' at checkout for your discount! 

I taped off my concrete tube form using ScotchBlue™ Painter's Tape at the 20" mark, from either end, so that I would have an easy to see guide for my table height. Then using a large drill bit, I drill pilot holes close to my tape lines so that I could start my jig saw with ease. Simply cut around the tape line on both sides to cut your form to size using a jig saw (easiest for me) or a circular saw if you prefer.

I traced around the inside of my concrete tube form to set my table top size appropriately, and then cut them out using my jig saw. 

I used self tapping screws to attach my top to the form sitting just inside the lip of the form. 

Mix your concrete resurfacer with water according to the instructions on the package. Use your handy dandy mixer attachment on a very low and slow speed to mix your material. You want to end up with a consistency that is something like really thick pancake batter for this to work how it should.

Use your Masonry Brush and paint on a thin layer of the concrete resurfacer. Once you have covered the base, use your trowel to cover the top (this is much easier than trying to use the brush for the top for some reason) and smooth a bit. 

Allow it to dry partially (about 70%) then sand smooth. Be careful not to sand off your thin layer of concrete. If you need to touch up, this is the time to do so while your material is still wet enough. If you want to add a thick layer of concrete, do this in steps with thin layers each time, and work your way up. If you layer too soon you will have that experience of accidentally wiping off your first layer as you attempt to add on to it. 

Allow your tables to completely cure for 24 hours or the recommended time on the package. Once dry you are ready to tape and paint! 

Be sure to choose a paint color with a bit of a sheen to help seal any unfinished edges on the tube form. This will also help the tables weather a bit better. Give the edges and the bottom inch of the underside a very good coat or two of your paint. 

I used a foam brush, since they grab quite a bit of paint, and used a stippling motion (pouncing) since the tables have quite a bit of texture. I worked my way around making sure to hit every single nook and cranny. I only did one coat, but I did a very good thick single coat. 

I like to remove my tape right away but this is a personal preference and not a requirement! For me it helps to know if I have made an error before I put my painting supplies away, so I 'check' my work early...

I would recommend a water seal spray of some sort if you live in a wet climate, just to be sure you don't have exposed cardboard around the bottom. Otherwise enjoy! 

Love, love, love these beauties and they are very light weight too! Easy to pick up and move around but sturdy enough for outdoor use! Though I'm thinking indoor use would be fabulous too. 

See another project from this blog-hop here: Centsational Girl - Textured Panel Dresser Makeover

This post was brought to you in partnership with The Home Depot and ScotchBlue™ Painter's Tape.

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Once your chipboard is on your mat, you will want to center the mat between the white roller wheels on the bar in your machine. This will make sure your page goes through properly. 

The image above shows what happens when you don't add that extra clearance for your image (the 1/2" extra bit of margin I suggested earlier). Eek. 

Now let's chat about your blade. That cute little thing above has markings around the white portion with numbers. When I mentioned you want to set your screen setting to a level 6, this also means you need to adjust the actual blade accordingly. To do this, use the gray cap that comes with your blade, or the hole on the front of the machine to set your blade and then turn to adjust where the red marker aligns. Once it's set for 6, you are good to go according to the blade directions and set up instructions. Unfortunately my blade still wasn't cutting. After chatting with support for an entire day, it turns out that I can make the blade cut by removing the teeny tiny top portion of that white cap (which the instructions say to remove for cleaning and then replace). It seems as though it is supposed to sty on, but my blade doesn't stick out far enough for that to work, so I simply left it off. I am sure I am ruining my machine or something devastating, but I tried 2 blades with the same results and 2 blades in 2 different packages can't both be defective... so my thought is that a new safety measure perhaps, is a bit too safe? Not sure, but this is the story I am sticking too! 

This is what it looks like with this little piece removed. You simply unscrew it by turning it counter clockwise. 

Voila she cuts... and then if your mat is too sticky, she doesn't come off. Double eek.. 

At this point I figured perhaps the sticky mat and the chipboard dont mix and I should just send the chipboard through without the mat... wrong... that sucker got crazy and folded over on itself and made a horrid horrid mess. No, you need that mat to keep the small cut sections from lifting, but you need that mat to just be a little less sticky, which it was after my first incident with my cuts not coming off properly. Another problem accidentally solved... after I spent 30 minutes trying to scrape the residual chipboard off, of course! 

Finally after I adjusted my margins, used a less sticky mat, adjusted my blade to a 6 so it didn't cut all the way through, removed that cap from the blade and re ran that sucker through... everything worked properly! And then I decided it was too small... womp womp womp. 

Back to the drawing board, and I don't have pictures of these steps since by this time it was nearly midnight but I will happily suggest you paint any of your pieces prior to removing them from the mat. This just makes things easier... 

Ultimately I was able to fit 2 hello images per sheet and I cut a total of 6 to layer and give it dimension. This isn't necessary if you are making a banner in the traditional sense, but I was of course moving to the beat of a different drum...