Use Dollar Tree Kitchen Drawer Liners To Make Stunning Hosting Signs

Vinyl cutters have become a must-have item to update your home arts and crafts studio, but with a typical price tag between $100 and $400 for a Cricut, these handy tools just aren't in the budget for every DIYer. Luckily, you can produce Cricut-style results with Dollar Tree kitchen shelf liners. At first glance, kitchen shelf/drawer liners only have one use — lining your shelves and drawers. But with a few affordable materials and a laser printer, you can totally upcycle shelf liners into the coolest accent décor pieces for your home. By transferring a printed image onto a clear shelf liner, your hosting signs are in for a stunning upgrade. 

For this project, it's important that you get the Con-Tact Clear Self-Adhesive Shelf Liners – liners with patterns won't work. Other materials you will need include a laser printer, vinyl sticker paper, tape, scissors, and an old window. Depending on the state of your old window, you may also want to paint the frame.

Start this project by thoroughly cleaning the glass portion of your window to ensure the drawer/shelf liners will adhere smoothly. Then, it's time to pick your graphic. Words like welcome, cheers, and WiFi passwords are common choices, but you can choose any word or phrase you like. Next, remove the stickers from vinyl sticker paper (you can use these for a separate project).

Then, place that sheet in the paper tray of your laser printer so that you end up printing on the shiny side. Once your graphic is printed, be sure not to touch the ink as it will smudge. Now, cover the vinyl paper with the clear liner and smooth it out – this should transfer the ink from your vinyl paper to the liner, essentially creating a sticker. Cut your letters out and then they are ready to be stuck to your window. If you plan on using this sign outdoors or are worried about the stickers peeling off, you can go over the graphic with a thin layer of clear glue as well.

To elevate these signs even further, try attaching some simple LED string lights to the window frame to backlight your graphic. You can add special seasonal lights as well, like these harvest LED string lights for Halloween and fall-themed signs. Painting your window frame and gluing on special touches like faux flowers or cute butterfly craft boards is another way to personalize this project. Depending on the weight of your window, you can also use eye screws for hanging the frame – putting your new hosting sign on full display.