I purchased this vintage metal flying saucer sledding disc recently at an estate sale. Remember flying down a hill when you were a kid on one of these—ultimately tipping over and flipping you out most of the time? And when Clark Griswald (Chevy Chase) uses a “non-chloric, silicon-based kitchen lubricant” to grease his flying saucer sled in the iconic Christmas movie Christmas Vacation? Classic.
This one has been well used over the years. It was dirty, grimy and has multiple dents and scratches all over it. I wanted to create a holiday decor piece with it, but I didn't want to ruin the integrity of the piece. It probably still has lots of sledding life in it.
I tried cleaning it with a spray cleaner first and although that did remove some of the grime, it was still pretty dirty. My workshop doesn't have running water so I took it home and gave it a good scrubbing with a Brillo pad. That cleaned it up really well.
I decided to use vinyl to apply the design. The vinyl can withstand the outdoor temps and wouldn't be hurt if someone wanted to actually go sledding with the disc and it could be easily removed if someone wanted to return it to the original look.
I found this design on the Silhouette store and downloaded it to my Silhoutte Cameo software. I separated the colors and printed each color out on a separate piece of vinyl. I had scaled it to the 24" diameter of the disc using the red circle I drew on the artwork. I was able to print each color on a 12 x 12 piece of vinyl. After I weeded each piece, I applied it to the flying saucer.
It fit perfectly. I transferred the vinyl to the flying saucer sled. It just needed one more thing.
I added some wire so it could be hung. And I added this black and white checked ribbon. I thought about making a big bow, but then I thought simply tying it in a knot would make it look more like a scarf for the snowman and that perhaps a gust of wind had lifted it from his neck and the snowman was reaching for it.
So there it is, whimsical, yet fits perfectly with a modern farmhouse vibe. You could put it on a porch or near any Christmas tree—or you could still go sledding!
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Edit: It was so nice of Donna over at Funky Junk Interiors to feature this project on her blog! She has a really great blog. Check it out by clicking here.
Below are some links to products I used in this project. Disclaimer: Junk is My Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Below is an image to pin to Pinterest if you would like to save this idea!
