I’ve been known to host the occasional blow-out at my place, and since I don’t have nearly enough glassware to accommodate 30+ guests (nor the time to make runs to the rental company!), I frequently opt to use single-use recyclable cups. Typically I love the clean look of regular clear plastic ware, but when I recently stumbled upon this contact paper photo technique, I thought it might be fun to dress up basic Solo Cups with black and white photos. Camille was kind enough to loan me some of her own childhood pictures for the test run, and I fell in love with the final product — perfect for honoring a birthday boy or girl at the next bash you host! Keep reading to see how it’s done…
- childhood photos
- clear contact paper
- recyclable Solo cups — I love these clear 18oz Bare cups
- scissors
- bowl of warm water
- Print out childhood photos using a laser printer on regular paper. If you don’t have a laser printer, Xerox copies of photos work as well. The higher the contrast of the photos, the better. Cut individually into squares as pictured.
- Peel back off of contact paper and place photos face-down onto the clear adhesive. Firmly rub back of photos to help transfer photos.
- Cut out photos .
- Fill a bowl with warm water, and drop the contact paper-covered photos in. Be sure that photos are fully submerged, and leave for ten minutes.
- Use fingers to gently rub paper off back of contact paper. The photo will have transferred onto the contact paper. Set photo contact paper down with the adhesive side up and allow to dry completely. As it dries, the tackiness of the contact paper will return.
- Adhere photos to Solo cups.
*This post is in partnership with Solo Cup. Thanks for being supportive of the sponsors that help keep CamilleStyles.com your daily destination for lifestyle inspiration!
This is brilliant. I love it.
thanks melissa!! xo
I always try to use real glasses when hosting at my home but sometimes a plastic cup is a must. I know there is a whole song devoted to the “red solo cup” but I definitely prefer the clear plastic cup. Thanks for dressing up the solo cup!
Very clever!!
omg – this is amazing. and i literally use contact paper for everything, why i never thought of this i don’t know! xo!
it might be my new favorite crafting material… so versatile and easy to work with!! 🙂
Love the way this turned out Chanel! I’m into the clear cups 🙂
Thanks Cristinaaaaa!!!
Does this come off when the cups are filled with ice & the cups get wet? That’s why I’ve always been against those paper “water bottle” wrappers people try to use at parties. They only work on room temp water bottles! This ideas of yours looks as if it would work with cups that are wet with condensation, though . . . How long do these last? All evening?? 🙂
Hi there! From my experience, these do not come off when cups are filled & cold. As long as all the paper is rubbed off (step 5), the contact paper should adhere to the plastic and stay put. Hope that helps & best of luck!
Yahoo!!! Cannot WAIT to try this!!! I have the perfect party coming up to make these! 🙂 Thank you so much for posting this & for your prompt response!
i have adhesive shelf and drawer liner. it is clear. is that different than contact paper\? when i put the picture on it and put in water the picture came off the adhesive
can this work with harder plastic cups? or only the disposable ones?
YES! i am wondering the same thing! would we only be able to use the disposable cups?
Hi Tawny, I haven’t tried this on non-disposable cups. Feel free to give it a shot & let us know how it goes!
So glad I came across this! Will be perfect for my son’s high school grad party!! Thanks 🙂
Hello! This is awesome! I just tried to transfer, and for some reason I am not able to get it to transfer. I only have one semi-successful attempt, but it is super faint. Any tips? Thanks!
My guess is you’re using an inkjet printer instead of a laser printer. I tried with my inkjet printer and get super faint results also.
I tried this twice the other night. When I go to check the photos soaking in the cups, the photos have come off of the contact paper or slide off when I check them. What am I doing wrong?? Want to do these for a 60 th birthday May 2, 2015. Thanks for your help. I bought my clear contact shelf paper at K mart. Am I buying the correct stuff?
Same thing happened to me Teri, did you find a solution 🙁
when I rub the paper off, the photo comes off the contact paper as well…..
I see that she used Bare cups by Solo, Maybe that made a difference?
there is a difference between shelf paper (made to be removed) and contact paper (made to stick). My guess is you used shelf paper.
Great post! I cited it in my blog.
https://hilaryously.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/contact-paper-photo-transfer/
I am So looking forward to trying this
Hi Hello, A question… only works in Black and White photos? I designed a logo in colours and I want to apply this tecnich.
I love this idea! I just tried it, and when I tried to separate the picture from the paper, the paper pretty much dissolved like tissue paper. Should I use better paper?
I tried it again and had better luck, but it still doesn’t seem like I am doing it right. Perhaps I am rubbing too hard because I peel the picture right off, and there is no image. Thank you for any help you can provide.
Has anyone tried this and been successful? I haven’t been successful, and I’d love to hear what I might be doing wrong because I love the idea!
Thank you for this great idea, will be trying at the next event
I’m having an issue once i rub the back (after the soaking process) of the paper and let me dry they are not becoming sticky 🙁 Any tips? Should i leave it in the water as i rub the back? HELP using this for a 60th bday party coming up and i LOVE the way they look just can’t figure out how to make them stick