It’s that time of year again when summer winds down and back to school bargains begin. As you begin looking for school items, consider adding some pizzaz to your child’s gear and or supplies. By labeling your child’s school gear, hopefully if (or when!) they lose it there is a higher chance of the lunchbox or water bottle will be recovered.

I have boy/girl twins who are enamored with dinosaurs and unicorns, respectively. So it isn’t hard to guess which patterns they selected for school supplies! To add a bit of flair, I decided to personalize their backpacks, lunch bags and water bottles.

For this project you need the following items:

• Adhesive vinyl
• Heat transfer vinyl
• Craft cutting machine
• Cutting mat
• Craftables transfer tape
• Iron or heat press
• Weeding tools

Step 1

Select your image or phrase that you would like to use. There are several free SVG images that you can download on Craftables. You can download the unicorn here. For the lunch bags, I used the dinosaur file and unicorn file and allowed them to select the designs. Measure the item (in my case the lunch bag) and ensure the dimensions are the same in your cutting machine software.

Step 2

Use your craft cutter to cut out your image. Ensure that your word or phrase will properly fit on your wood sign. I always leave enough room for error and repositioning.

Things to remember:

• When you use HTV, you will need to flip the image!
• When you use HTV, thace the vinyl so the glossy side is facing downward.
• No craft cutter? No problem! Once you have selected your word/phrase you can print it out. Cut it out and place it on top of your vinyl. Trace and cut your word/phrase. But before you print out the word/phrase for the HTV remember to click mirror image in your word processor- the words need to be backwards!

Step 3

Weed all of your vinyl. Depending on the font you use, it may take some time. Be careful and take your time. Pulling too fast and hard may cause you to tear portions of your words.

Step 4

To apply the adhesive vinyl, take the transfer paper and place it on top of your vinyl. Slowly peel away the vinyl backing. Once the back is removed, you apply your adhesive vinyl to the lunch bag or cup. You may use an application tool or even a plastic card to ensure that there are not any air bubbles.