It's football season in Texas – even though it doesn't quite feel like it this year.  In Texas, the homecoming football game is a big deal.  It means mums, bonfire, and big pep rallies. It's just one of the things I love about living in a small Texas town.

When my girls were little, I would always make them small mums to wear to the Friday night football game as we cheered on daddy's team.  These are the days that inspired the name of my blog, Pigskins & Pigtails.

Mums are easy to make!  You just need a few supplies from your craft store and a stapler. 

While you can usually find ribbon with your school name at your local craft store, I thought it would be fun to show you a way to make your own personalized ribbon.  You can create ribbon with your school logo, your name, class, or any creative idea you can dream up.

Screen Printing with Your Cricut or Silhouette Vinyl

Using your Cricut or Silhouette vinyl cutter, you can screen print at home.  This method is a great shortcut compared to traditional screen printing setups. 

I cut the design on Oracal 651 vinyl and attach it to my Speedball screen printing frame using transfer tape.

If you are new to screen printing with vinyl and would like to see the step-by-step process, start on my Beginner's Screen Printing page.

SUPPLIES NEEDED for screen printing on ribbon

• Cricut Maker or Silhouette Vinyl Cutting Machine
• Oracal 651 vinyl
• Speedball screen printing frame
• Speedball acrylic ink
• Graphic Squeegee or IKONART Squeegee
• Painter’s Tape
• Transfer Tape
• Ribbon in various sizes
• Mum flower
• Round White Paper Backers
• Stapler

Screen Printing with Vinyl on Ribbon

Making mums is the perfect reason to create personalized ribbon, but this process would also be great for branding your packaging or making your own gift wrap.

I use my Speedball hinge frame for this project.  Using the hinge frame or a 1-color press allows you to easily mark and align your ribbon.  This will allow you to use the same screen to print yards and yards of ribbon!

I start by cutting my designs in Cricut Design Space.  I add a weeding box around the design and size that box to the same width as my ribbon. 

Attach your design to the back of your frame.  Place your ribbon under the frame and adjust it until it is lined up perfectly with the edges of your vinyl.  I do this step before adding the painter's tape so you can see the edge of the vinyl and the ribbon.

Once your ribbon is in the perfect spot, tape it your board.  Then, add additional tape to mark the edges of your ribbon.  This will be used as a guide to place your next piece of ribbon under the frame.

Now it's time to tape off the open areas of your frame with painter's tape. 

Squeegee a small amount of Speedball acrylic ink over your design. 

And now the fun part… lift your frame to reveal your printed ribbon!

How to Assemble the Mum

Once your ribbon is dry, it's time to assemble your mum.  I use a pre-made paper backer (found in the homecoming section at your craft store), but you could cut your own piece of cardboard.

Staple loops of ribbon to your backer.

Then on a second backer, staple a variety of long ribbon pieces.

Now you're ready to put it all together.  The backer with the loops goes under the mum, then your long ribbon pieces go under that.  Staple it all together.

You can attach a safety pin to the back and it's ready to wear!  Happy Homecoming!!

Tips for Screen Printing on Ribbon

Here are a few things I learned when screen printing on ribbon:

1. Use a hinge frame or 1-color press. This setup will allow you to better align your design on each piece of ribbon. 
2. Use Speedball acrylic ink. This ink dries permanent and does not need to be heat set. 
3. Add off-contact space.  If you notice that your ink is bleeding under your vinyl, try adding a little off-contact.  This means creating a little space between your board and the screen. I use plastic poker chips (quarters work great too).  Now, when you squeegee over the ink should touch the ribbon but the screen will bounce back off the surface. 

I hope these tips help you successfully screen print on ribbon. If you would like more detailed tips and support on these types of projects, you can join my monthly membership group, the Maker's Circle.