Last weekend, I was getting ready to go to a Halloween party when I realized I had nothing to wear! I don’t have any cute halloween clothes- how is that possible? I love themed and festive things. So at the last minute I wanted to make something fun and I came up with this adorable shirt! In total the project took me less than 30 minutes and then I was off to the party, appropriately festive. And the shirt was a hit!

I did this project using my Cricut Explore Air, which is quickly becoming my favorite craft tool. I used it to make my adorable studio sign for my office that I absolutely love. And now this shirt is so amazingly easy to make with such great results. What’s not to love?

I was a bit nervous to try using iron-on vinyl, but it went really well. For my first time using iron-on vinyl I think I did a pretty good job! I used this tutorial from Rae Gun Ramblings to figure out what to do.

Alright- who’s ready to craft? I’ll walk you step by step how to make this shirt, and you can even download the design I used for free to make your own boo shirt!

tools and supplies:

• Cricut Explore Air
• Iron on Vinyl (You can also get awesome vinyl here)
• T-shirt
• Iron
• Cricut tools (optional)

step one: download file

Click the image to download the file!

This step is pretty self explanatory! Just click the image above to download the file you need to make this shirt. My favorite part is the little ghost.

The image is backwards- but don’t worry, that’s on purpose. When you cut iron-on vinyl you cut it backwards because the underside ends up becoming the front of the design.

step two: import image to cricut design studio

Launch your cricut design studio and start a new project. You’ll want to upload the image, and you can do this by clicking the upload image tab on the left. Them press the “upload image” button.

The upload will ask you what type of image it is, and you should select simple image. Next you will click through the select and erase and press next. Because the file is in .png format, the image is already transparent and you wont need to remove the background.

The images below show you what this process looks like:

step three: insert image to cricut design studio

Now that you’ve uploaded your image, you’ll want to insert it into your design studio so you can make the cut!

Click on the image you uploaded, and click insert images. You’ll want to resize the image to your desired size. I made mine 11″ by 7.48″, because I wanted a large design. You can size it to fit your shirt.

Step four: prepare your mat

Now that your design is ready, you’ll want to prepare your mat. You’ll want to place your vinyl front side down. The back side will look much duller and you should be able to tell the difference, as you can see in the photo below.

Make sure you have enough vinyl for the size you selected in the previous step.

Once your mat is prepared, you can load it into the Cricut machine. Make sure to set your dial to “iron on vinyl.”

step five: cut and peel

Now you’re ready to cut! If you press the green circle that says “go” in Cricut design studio, it will show you a preview of your design. Approve the preview and then press the flashing “go” on the machine once you are ready to cut.

When the cut is finished, you can peel away the excess vinyl to leave your design behind.

step six: weed

When you peeled away the vinyl, the smaller pieces on the inside of letters and the ghost eyes did not come up. It’s time to “weed” those out. You can use the cricut weeder to do this- or possibly a toothpick. Just push along the edge and the vinyl should pop up.

step seven: iron on

Once you’ve got the design how you want it, you’re ready to iron it on! You will leave the plastic on the front of the vinyl to iron over.

Place your design right side up on the shirt where you want it to be located. You’ll want to use a setting for cotton on your iron without water.

I put some cardboard between the top and the bottom to keep the shirt stiff and easy to iron. Then iron away for several minutes until you are confident the vinyl has attached to the shirt. And now you’re done! Just peel away the plastic and you’re ready to go!

Woohoo- you’re done!

I love this shirt because it’s cute and festive. I can’t get over how cute the ghost exclamation point is. I’m so glad I added it- it’s the small details that really make a big difference in the final design.

And who doesn’t love a little sparkle?

I honestly can’t believe how easy it was to make this shirt. I feel like I should customize all the shirts I own now… but I won’t go that crazy.

But at least now I know I can make something pretty quickly at the last minute!

And the important part is, Biscuit approves. He even got his hair all over it. Why do I ever wear black clothes?

But who could say no to that adorable face?

All in all, one of my favorite cricut projects to date. I feel like I’m getting the hang of it now so you can expect more fun cricut tutorials from me! I might even have a little holiday idea up my sleeve… I can’t wait to share it.

But for now, I’m loving my boo shirt!

What do you think? Are you ready to make your shirt?

supplies used in this post:

The post DIY Halloween Boo Shirt appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

I’m going to walk you step-by-step through this easy tutorial. There’s pictures for every step- so you really can’t go wrong. Soon enough vinyl transfer paper will feel like a breeze for you.

It’s actually very easy to use- but it’s worth going through all the steps for Cricut newbies like me. I added text instructions in case you need it, but you will probably be able to figure out how to use the transfer tape just from the pictures.

This tutorial will also apply to any other cutting machine you may use- everything but the first few steps in the design studio. So don’t be discouraged from using this post if you don’t use a cricut. And if vinyl isn’t for you, I’ve also written a great tutorial on how to make custom wood signs with paint!

So let’s get to it!

supplies:

• A cutting machine (I use the Cricut explore air, which you can buy from Cricut or on amazon)
• Vinyl (I used this one, and expressions vinyl sells tons of great inexpensive vinyl)
• Vinyl transfer paper (aka vinyl transfer tape)
• The object you are putting your vinyl design on (I used a cute wood sign like this one)
• Scraper or a stiff card like a credit or gift card
• Weeder (optional)

step one: design

The first step will be to use your cutting machine’s design software to make your vinyl design. I’m going to talk about the Cricut design studio because I use a Cricut.

You can use the editing tools in the design studio to make your design. You can write words with any of the cricut fonts or any fonts on your computer, or you can upload an image. If you upload a .png file, it should leave the background blank. But if you upload a .jpg or other file format, you may need to “select and erase.” All that means is that you select the white space around and between letters to leave only the letters you want to cut.

Make sure your layer is set to cut, and you should be ready to go!

step two: load and cut

The next step is to cut your design out of the vinyl.

You’ll want to apply your vinyl to a cutting mat and load it into your machine. In the Cricut design studio, you press “go” and then make sure the Cricut has the correct settings before cutting.

When your vinyl is cut, you will be able to see the outline of your final design, like in the photo below.

Step three: weeding

Weeding is when you remove any excess vinyl so that only your final design remains. You should be able to do this easily by just peeling up the excess vinyl. If the design starts to come up with it, just push it back down with your finger. You can use the awesome weeding tool to help get any small pieces like the circle inside the “p.” You can see all this in the images below.

When you are done you should have just your final design remaining on the mat.

step four: apply vinyl transfer paper (vinyl transfer tape)

To apply your vinyl transfer paper, first peel the backing off the transfer paper. Press the vinyl on top of your final design. You can use the scraper tool or an old credit card to make sure the design is attached tightly to the transfer paper.

You can see this in the photos below.

step five: peel vinyl transfer paper (tape) with vinyl attached

This step can be a little tricky, but if you are slow and careful it should be easy. You’ll want to peel up the vinyl transfer paper with the entire design you want to transfer attached. Some of it may not peel up, in which case you can put the transfer paper back down and go over that section again with the scraper or your finger until it comes up when you are peeling.

In the pictures below, you can see that the S was being stubborn and not peeling up, so I put the tape back down to reattach it until I got the full design on the transfer paper.

step six: place vinyl transfer paper (tape) and apply

Once you’ve got your vinyl design on the transfer paper, you’ll want to place it where you want it to go on your final design. You can put vinyl on all kinds of things- decorative signs, water bottles, mirrors, walls… whatever you can think of!

I’m using a sign for this tutorial, so I placed my design in place. I then used my scraper tool (or you can use a credit card) to firmly apply the design to the sign.

step seven: peel off vinyl transfer paper and admire!

Once your design is firmly applied, you can just peel off the transfer paper and admire your final design!

If the vinyl transfer paper does not peel cleanly leaving the entire design behind, you can place the paper back down and scrape again. In my experience, this step is usually the easiest.

Woohoo- you made it! I told you it’s easier than it looks!

So there you go- I told you it’s easier than it sounds. Once you get the hang of the vinyl transfer paper you will be able to customize and design anything you set your mind to.

I love the new sign I made for this tutorial!

So, what do you think? Are you a vinyl transfer paper expert now? Get going on those craft projects!

supplies used in this post

The post How to Use Vinyl Transfer Paper (Vinyl Transfer Tape) appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.