Custom Trick or Treat Bag!
There are so many cute ways to DIY a custom trick or treat bag, and that includes both light and dark transfer. That being said, creating this custom trick or treat bag became the perfect opportunity to take every day transferring up a notch. I'm talking the technique called layer transfer. Layer transfer utilizes both light and dark transfer papers to create a unique layering effect. This really lets your creativity go wild! I'll show you how! Here's what you'll need:
- 1 plain canvas tote bag (mine was 9.5 x 13 in)
- 2 Sheets NuFun Activities Light Fabric Transfer
- 2 Sheets NuFun Activities Dark Fabric Transfer
- Scissors
- Inkjet printer
- Iron
- Cricut/Silhouette Cutter (Optional)
- Parchment Paper
- Black Silk Ribbon
- First, make sure that your canvas bag is flat and free from wrinkles. I had to iron mine.
- Print your light fabric transfer design. I found the pattern and my animal graphics on All Free Downloads! You will be transferring the light transfer first so we will start there. Because the bag is bigger than your standard sheet of paper, you'll print two sheets of the pattern. You can use the same Cute Pumpkin Pattern as me! Remember to MIRROR OR FLIP your image for light transfer!
- Once you've printed your pattern, align the pattern so that the sheets cover the entire front side of the canvas bag. Tape the sides of the transfer paper together to keep them aligned correctly.
4. Place your transfer sheets print side down on the flat canvas bag and transfer according to the instructions. The trick to peeling a large piece of light transfer like this is that you want it to be HOT when you peel. That means, it works best to peel as you go. For example, fully transfer one section and then peel it back while its still hot.
I taped the front side of the transfer because this part was overhanging the edge of the bag. Do NOT tape anywhere that will be transferred onto the bag.
5. Once your light transfer is one, your bag will already start looking cute! We could stop here but, no. This is where it gets really cool.
Here you'll see I transferred the entire top sheet of paper and peeled it, leaving the second sheet behind to heat and peel separately. This allows you to keep a hotter peel- thus get better results.
6. While your bag is cooling down, start printing your dark transfer letters. There are two ways to do this. I used my Cricut cutting machine. If you don't have one of those. you can simply print letters and cut them out. If you're using a print and cut machine, you can either set up your lettering to print and cut, or you can do what I did. Simply print a full sheet of black Dark Fabric Transfer and cut your letters as you would any other heat transfer vinyl.
7. Weed the transfer paper to reveal the lettering. This transfer paper weeds super well but still be careful and take it slow!
9. Place your letters print side up on your custom trick or treat bag. This is super easy if you used a transfer mask but if not, just be sure your letters are placed flat on the surface!
There! I think I have corrected the wonky spacing.
12. Once again, its super cute so we could stop here BUT the little girl that this special bag is going to is crazy about animals. So, why not add some cute Halloween animals to the mix? Simply pick out the graphics you want to use and print them on Dark Fabric Transfer.
13. Carefully cut out your animals and peel off the backing paper.
14. Place your animals on the bag, cover with parchment paper and transfer just like you did with the letters. Remember not to iron anything NOT covered by parchment paper.
15. Add a bow and you're ready to go!
Want to create your own layer transfer project or custom trick or treat bag? Visit our shop and get your own NuFun Activities Transfer Paper
