Our Low Tech Spring Break part 2 (Wax Paper Image Transfers)

After the success (and relief) that was Galaxy in a Jar we perused through Pinterest for more ideas on crafts that we could do to pass the time between board games and books. I was working on painting a cabinet to put on the walls of our half bath downstairs when I came across some decorative plates. In one of the examples the person had decoupaged pictures of her family to the back of the plate and it was very nice BUT I wanted something a little different...besides who wants pictures of their family members staring back at them when their trying to have a little private time in the John...? Not me, I needed to go in a different direction.

                  Image Transfer Using Waxed Paper

What you need:
Regular 8x11 printer paper
Wax Paper
Spray Adhesive (I used Elmer's Craft Bond)
Computer and Printer
Surface to apply the transfer

Each of us selected an image that we wanted to transfer and a white plate from the dollar store as our test surfaces. The idea of wax paper transfers seemed like an easy thing to do but, as we learned, there are some ways you can mess it up. If you do mess it up and your ink gets smeared, some simple glass cleaner will clean the slate and you will be free to try again :)

What to do:
After you've found your image remember, if it has words or certain designs you'll want to make sure you reverse the image.  If you don't the image will come out backwards on your surface...ask me how I know?? I used photoshop to flip mine but you may have that function on your computer.

My Original Image

My flipped Image

 










Once you have your image set and ready to go, get yourself a piece a piece of wax paper and regular paper. Apply just a bit of spray adhesive onto the printer paper, wait a second or two before applying the waxed paper with the waxy side facing you. Check to see if your waxed paper is waxed on both sides, if it is good! If not, make sure you print on the waxy side otherwise your image will not transfer....ask me how I know???
There are some tutorials that say that you can load the waxed paper directly into the printer but I tried that with some tissue paper (for another project) with disastrous results so I just found it easier to stick it on a piece of regular paper, print, then VERY CAREFULLY peel the waxed paper loose. Then, and this is the kicker, gently apply it to your surface. You want to make sure that you are steady and do not move the image as you will smear the ink and it will look like an inky mess...ask me how I know??
Carefully take a credit card (library card) or the back of a spoon and rub the back of the image. You don't have to rub very hard (at all) just be very careful not to move the inky image.
Once you've got it all rubbed down the way you want it, remove the waxed paper and you should have a nice clean image transfer!

Here are our finished transfer...the girls used a
paint marker to decorate their plates :)

Here is another attempt on my part...

Hope you enjoy and if there's anything you want to see in this blog or if you like what you see already say so in the comments...we'd love to hear from you :)

Wishing you love and laughter,

Shereeta