Transfering Vinyl to Glass

I've noticed that a lot of people want to learn how to transfer vinyl, but haven't been able to find a good basic tutorial.  Well I can't promise mine will be good, but I hope it helps someone.  I'm going to show you how to transfer the scroll tree from the Silhouette Store (Design ID #6981) to a float frame. 

 

So here is the tree, all weeded and ready to go.  You're going to want to make sure you clean your glass really well.  Try not to touch the glass where the tree will go after you've cleaned it.  For two reasons, 1. The finger prints will be forever under your vinyl and 2. Vinyl doesn't like to stick to body oils and such.

I used clear contact paper as transfer paper. Some people don't like this. They have problems with a sticky residue left behind.  Any time this has happened to me, the sticky is easy to rub off with my finger.  I like contact paper.  I'm not a fan of real transfer paper. Anyway, I cut my transfer paper the size of the glass. In this case, 8x10.

 

Lay the contact paper over the design and try to center it as best as possible. 

 Rub down the contact paper onto the design. I use the handle of my scissors to rub over the design, some people use a credit card or the scraper from the SIL store.  You just want to make sure you go over your entire design so that it sticks to the transfer paper...

...like this. See how it has peeled off the backing paper and is now on your contact paper?

Now place the contact paper with your design onto the glass. This is why I cut my paper the size of the glass. Now I know it's going to be pretty centered on the glass.

Rub down again. This time I just use my fingers. Peel up a little and if it's now stuck to the glass instead of the transfer paper, then you're all set!  If it's having some trouble sticking, rub it down and let it set for a few hours. That will give the vinyl time to adhere and the adhesive to activate. 

Tada!  Beautiful, isn't it?  Family is also in the Silhouette store (Design ID #8560)