It’s that time of year again >> wedding season!  We have a few spring weddings coming up, which meant the bachelorette weekends were gonna be here even faster.  I’m making a few different goodies for 2 friends’ bachelorette parties, so will be sharing all the projects here for anyone else in the wedding / bachelorette DIY spirit!

I made my first bachelorette sash in October for Lauren’s bachelorette weekend in Nashville.  That was my prototype and since I knew my method worked, I made a few more for my friends and now am sharing the steps here  to make your own!

Bachelorette sash

What you’ll need:

• 2 1/2″ white satin ribbon
• Gold vinyl
• Scissors
• Cricut Explore Air
• Weeder tool
• Transfer paper
• Safety pin

You can find the ribbon at your local craft store.  I found that 2 1/2″ was a great width to be a sash with enough room for letters, but not too large to be annoying.  I also went with gold letters, but you could customize to your bride’s favorite colors!I wanted the letters to match my friend’s save the dates and the personalized hangers I made for her wedding day, so I used Carolyna Pro Black font.  That font includes some flourishes and options for letters, so I wrote the words out in Illustrator and exported each word as a separate png file.  Then I imported the images in Design Space.

You could also just write out your “Bride to be” or “Future Mrs. ___” phrase in Design Space, but you’ll want to make sure you line the letters up so they connect and then weld them all together.  Since I have Illustrator, it’s easier to do it there and import, but you can get the same result either way!

The ribbon’s width is 2 1/2″ so your letters need to be smaller than that – I went with a 2″ height so there would be a little room on the top & bottom.When the letter height is right, you’re ready to cut.  Put the gold vinyl on your mat, turn the dial to “vinyl,” load it in and cut!

Cut each of the words out from the vinyl, then weed the excess away with the weeder tool.

Cut out some transfer paper that’s big enough for each of the words.  To get the most of my roll of transfer tape, I try to fit the words just right.  Remove the backing of the paper, apply the transfer paper on top of the words and use the scraper to press it down and get any air bubbles out.

Next you’ll want to cut a piece of ribbon that’s a good size for a sash.  I usually just drape it on my shoulder and across my body to get a good estimate of the length I need, mark it and then cut the ends diagonally to prevent fraying.

This is the trickiest part for me – put the ribbon back on your right shoulder, draped across where it would be pinned on your left hip.  Figure out where the letters should start on the ribbon, a few inches down from your shoulder, so they would be across the bride’s chest.  Mark it and also take note of making sure you know what way the letters should face.

Once I have that “spot” I start laying out the letters on the ribbon from there to see their placement.  One by one, I remove the backing, press the letters to the ribbon, and slowly remove the transfer tape so the vinyl is adhered to the ribbon.When all the words are on, you’re done!  Just make sure to have a safety pin ready so the bride can pin the bottom together and the ribbon becomes a sash!The first time I made one, I was worried about the vinyl not adhering to the satin ribbon well and was wildly mistaken (I should have known this considering I’ve put vinyl on just about everything now).  These sashes have made it through the weekend with no issues so far!  Plus I love that you can customize the font & colors, and even add more to the ribbon to fit the bride’s personality!

Personalized gifts for those attending the bachelorette weekend are popular, and just nice considering the time & money people spend.  My friend Erin saw some totes that she wanted to give at our friend’s upcoming bachelorette weekend and asked if I could make something similar – I was up for the challenge!

Bachelorette Tote Bags

What you’ll need:

• Tote bags
• Cricut Explore Air
• Black HTV
• Scissors
• Weeder tool
• Iron

Erin had the tote bags shipped to me, which are similar to these.  I already had some black HTV on hand, so was ready to start immediately!

We wanted to add some flourishes to the beginning and end of the names, so I wrote each of them out in Illustrator and saved each name as a separate png file.

Open Design Space and import the png file as a simple, cut image.  Then repeat for the rest of the names.

Once all the names are imported, I made them about the same length, 9″.  Now you’re ready to cut them on the HTV.  Put the HTV on the mat (shiny side down), make sure to check the box to mirror the image, set your Cricut to ‘Iron On,’ and cut!

When the names are done, cut each one out individually and weed out the excess HTV with the weeding tool.  You’ll be left with lots of backwards names.

Plug in your iron and put it on the cotton setting, or high heat.  Iron the wrinkles out of the tote bags, then put the name on top (where you can read the name) and iron it on the bag.  I usually apply heat for 5-10 seconds, remove, and apply more to another area until all of it is adhered and you can easily remove the clear piece.Repeat for each name, then you’re done!  I had 10 bags ready to be filled and go on a bachelorette weekend in Mexico. Hopefully these will give you some ideas to get your craft on and make your own sash & gifts for a bachelorette weekend.  You wouldn’t believe how much you save when you do it yourself!

PS – Find more bachelorette crafts & travel stories here, and all my Cricut crafts here.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.