DIY Mardi Gras Monogram + Silhouette Studio Tutorial

How To Type on a Path in Silhouette Studio to Make Holographic Mardi Gras Beads

Beads, bling, and beer- Mardi Gras is almost here! A celebration calls for a custom t-shirt, so I thought why not combine a few Mardi Gras traditions to make a monogram. Monograms are trendy, but they’re especially popular in Southern areas like Louisiana, where the biggest Mardi Gras celebrations are held.

The first thing we need for a Mardi Gras Monogram is some beads. To make a circle of beads in Silhouette Studio you’ll have to place text on a path. First select the ellipse tool. Click and drag your mouse while holding the shift key to create a perfect circle. Next use your text tool to type several O’s. Double click your text and a green box will appear with a + symbol in the bottom left corner. Grab the + and drag the text onto the path.

Now you can continue to type O’s until the circle is complete. That’s all there is to typing on a path in Silhouette Studio! This trick is great to know if you want to create your own designs in Silhouette Studio. You can use any basic shape to make a path and type any font on that path. Think of all the fun you could have with wing ding fonts!

So the text is on a path, but the problem with the O’s is that they have 2 cut lines. One on the inside and one on the outside. We only want to keep the outside cut line so it will look like a circle of beads. To delete the inside cut line and make a solid circle select the O’s and go to Modify> Compound Paths> Release. It helps if the text has already been colored. That way you know the path has been released because the once empty O centers are now filled with color. Even though the design looks good we’re not ready to send the design to the cutter! Now that the path has been released you can select the center cut line of each O and delete it. Regroup your circle of beads after deleting the unneeded cut lines.

To add your monogram type out your initials in the pre-loaded monogram font, Monogram kk sc. Top it off with a crown of fleurs de lis and you have the perfect Mardi Gras monogram!

Size your monogram between 3″- 5″ and don’t forget to mirror your image! I only had to send my artwork to the cutter once for this design since I used Glitter for the crown and the monogram. I love the Cameo 3 because I can use the dual carriage to cut 2 types of heat transfer vinyl! To find your ideal cut setting on your Cameo check out this post.

However, you’ll need to add one special thing to your cut settings when cutting Holographic in a faux rhinestone shape. Turn the Overcut on! Add a .25mm Start and End Ext. to ensure the circles are cut all the way around. This ensures easy weeding!

After you’ve trimmed closely to the cut artwork and weeded away all the pieces of HTV you don’t need it’s time to heat apply. I opted for a ~~left~~ chest (oops!) right chest design. Holographic and Glitter are applied at 320° F with firm pressure. I pressed the purple Holographic first for 5 seconds, waited until the carrier was cold, and peeled away the carrier. Next I pressed both colors of Glitter for 10 seconds. Don’t forget to cover all the HTV with a heat transfer cover sheet. You can press multiple transfers at one time as long as none of the HTV overlaps with another carrier. Glitter’s carrier can be removed when it’s warm.