I am quite sure that the tooth fairy is a regular visitor to most households with children, collecting little lost teeth. So, I decided to make little tooth fairy bags that my boys could pop their tooth in and a little note if they wished. These little bags are really cute and make sure that the tooth doesn’t get lost before the tooth fairy has had time to collect them. To make these bags I will show you how to apply heat transfer vinyl to burlap.
To make these little bags you will need the following supplies:
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Choosing the design
First decide on the design that you want to use. I bought my design from design Bundles.
When you have the design you are ready to head over to design space. Click on new project and that will take you to a new blank canvas.
To upload a design that has been purchased down load the design file onto your computer.
When the design is downloaded head back over to design space and click on the upload cloud. This can be found on the left hand side of the canvas.
This will take you to the upload screen. Click on the upload image button and this will take you to the next screen. You will have an option to drag and drop the file or browse. If you click browse it bring up the list of your downloads.
Choose the download you wish to use. Click on the file and then click on the open button in the bottom right corner.
Uploading your design
Once you have clicked the open button it will open your design on the prepare to upload screen. Once you are happy with the design, you have the option to name the imagine. Then click on upload button in the bottom right corner and you will return to the upload screen. The design you uploaded will be displayed under resent uploads.
Click on the design you have uploaded and this will put a green box around it then you need to click on the green add to canvas button in the bottom right hand corner.
Back on the canvas you will see that the design has been uploaded.
Measuring your bag to size your design
At this point you need to measure the area on your bag to make sure the design is going to fit. I measured my bag and I needed to the size of my design to be 4.5” high by 4” wide.
Sizing the design
To change the size of the design you can do these 2 ways. The first way is to use the sizing handle in the bottom right corner of your design. Adjust the size of the design by clicking on it and moving it till the right size is reached.
The other way is to click on the width and height box at the top of the canvas and alter the size accordingly. The padlock in the middle means that they will both change in proportion unless you click on the padlock and this will allow you to change the height and width to the exact size you require.
Adding Text
If you want to add text to your tooth fairy bag, you can do this by clicking on the Text icon. You will find this on the left hand side of the screen. Once you have clicked on Text, it will bring you a text box up ready to start typing.
Type in any text you would like to be displayed onto your bag. I typed in Tooth Fairy, Please stop here.
To change the font click on the font box at the top left of the canvas.
This will then give you the option to chose a font from cricut or your computer system.
Click on the option you want and either search or type your font name in the search font box.
Once the font has been selected this will then change the font that is on your canvas.
To change the size of the font, just select the text and head up to the size box at the top of the canvas and change the text to the size you require.
If you need to curve the text, like I did to fit around the tooth. Click on the curve button and it will pop up a box with Diameter and a sliding bar.
Slide the bar across to the right and the text will start to curve downwards.
Repeat this with any text that you require at the bottom of your tooth. Click on curve, to curve the text upwards slide the diameter bar across to the left.
Once you are happy with the size of the design, click on make it.
Preparing the mat
Before cutting you will have to select how you are planning on cutting your material. I was cutting mine on the mat.
Then click on continue.
To prepare the vinyl onto the mat you should place the heat transfer vinyl shiny side down and press firmly onto the mat.
To save keep loading the mat in and out I placed my 3 colours of vinyl in the corners of my mat. I then moved my design to the relevant corner to match the correct colour of vinyl.
As you are using heat transfer vinyl you MUST mirror the design every time.
Load the mat into your Cricut by using the arrow button.
Choosing the right materials setting
Next you will need to select the material you wish to cut. If you need to search for your materials then click on browse all materials and this will show you all the materials that the cricut can cut. I personally use premium vinyl as it gives consistent results.
When you have selected your material you will have the option to alter the pressure. The pressure is always set to default but if you select ‘more’ it will give the best cut possible. To change the pressure just click on the box and it will drop down the options.
When the material and pressure have been selected the green cricut button on the maker will be flashing. Press the button and the cut will start.
Once the cut has finished, press the flashing arrow button and release the mat.
Removing the Vinyl
To remove the vinyl, flip the mat over and peel the mat away from the back of the vinyl. This will prevent the vinyl from curling up.
Trim around the edges of your design to save excess vinyl for another project and to save time weeding. Take your weeding tool and begin to weed out all the unneeded vinyl. All you will be left with is the design.
As my design used 3 different colours of vinyl I repeated the same process for all 3 colours.
Pressing the vinyl
Before pressing the vinyl onto the bag I placed the vinyl on to check that I was happy with the size and placement.
For the final stage we now need to heat press the design onto the front of the bag. I used my cricut mini press for this. I heated the heat press up to the medium temperature. Once the heat press was at temperature, I prepared the bag by heat pressing it for 10 seconds to remove any moisture that may be in the bag. Next, line up the design at the bottom of the bag making sure it is centred.
Once I was happy with the placement of the tooth and writing, I then applied the heat press and applied pressure onto the bag for 5 seconds. Don't heat the vinyl for too long as it has a tendency to shrink.
When all the design has been pressed carefully start to remove the protective sheet from the vinyl. I like to do this slowly starting in the corner, if the vinyl is lifting up then just pop the protective sheet back down and press the design again and that should do the trick.
Once the design if fully adhered then your tooth fairy bag is all complete and ready to use.
These make really great gift items as well as being great to use for your own children. I hope it also highlighted how to apply heat transfer vinyl to burlap and how easy it really is as well as being great fun to make.
If you would like to watch how I made these little bags, please check out the video below.
If you enjoyed this blog then please check out my other blog posts:
How to apply HTV with a Cricut Heat Press
Happy Crafting x