This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.
Kids are heading back to school and they are looking for cool accessories that will help them stand out. As parents, we want to make sure their school supplies can get the job done. Learn how to personalize school supplies with the help of your Cricut.
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I have always enjoyed back to school shopping, as a child and now as a Mother. Sharp new pencils, cool folders and fresh notebooks are a few of my favorites. I love the idea of starting fresh with blank pages and a whole school year in front of me.
Of course as a kid I really liked to customize my book covers and pencil box. Custom doodles and lots of neon stickers covered my school supplies. I hung key chains and pinned buttons to my backpack to stand out and share my personality with the world.
As my daughter gets older, entering the tween years, she wants to put her own mark on her school supplies. Gone are the days of plain paper book covers that you can doodle on. Her work is mostly done online.
In an effort to help show off her personality I updated a plain white backpack and inexpensive pencil box with colors and patterns she loves.
Learn how to personalize school supplies using your Cricut
There are a lot of custom backpacks out there, and so many different school supplies to choose from. But sometimes kids want to stand out. They want something no one else has. Start with an inexpensive plain backpack and make it your own with these steps.
This is where the Cricut comes in handy. My Explore Air 2 is a workhorse and helped us add custom leopard print to a backpack and embellish a plain pencil box with my daughter’s name.
Leopard Print Backpack
To customize a plain backpack start with these supplies.
- White backpack
- Black Iron on vinyl
- Gold foil Iron on
- Cricut Explore Air 2
- Cutting mat
- Weeding tool
- Cricut Easy Press 2
Open Design Space and pull up this leopard print pattern, #M334E0. I love using pre-designed images through Cricut Access, I can still create custom designs but I don’t have to start from scratch.
Duplicate the pattern and arrange the pieces in a way to will cover the surface of the backpack.
I chose to use black on the top and gold covering the bottom pocket. Each backpack will vary in size and style so be sure to measure first.
Group the pieces together and attach them, this will ensure that your pattern cuts all in one piece.
Now send the design to your machine and follow the prompts to cut it out. When the design is cut, weed away the excess iron on. This can take some time, pulling out the pieces. Use a weeding tool to help with the process.
Set up your backpack on a solid surface and put the EasyPress mat inside. Line up your leopard pattern and trim off any excess. I rounded the top edges with a scissors.
Then press the pattern onto the backpack using an EasyPress! Wait until it cools and pull off the backing. Repeat this process for the gold pattern on the pocket.
Personalized pencil box
An embellished or custom pencil case can be expensive. I prefer to purchase these clear cases with snap closures that I know will hold up all year long. Then I can add a custom name or image to the top of the case.
- Plastic pencil box
- Cricut Explore Air 2
- Cutting mat
- Black permanent vinyl
- Holographic permanent vinyl
- Transfer tape
- Weeding tool
- Scraper Tool
In Cricut Design space use the text tool to type your child’s name. I chose Don Juan font and sized it to fit the pencil box.
When it is sized correctly send it to your machine and cut the name out of black vinyl. Then cut it again using the holographic vinyl. You don’t need to resize the second name.
After weeding the vinyl, use transfer tape to move the black name to the pencil case. Scrap it down well to remove any bubbles. Then layer the holographic vinyl on top and slightly offset to create a shadow effect. Press everything down well and this becomes a permanent label that kids will love.
The Cricut can personalize anything including all those basic back to school supplies. Help your kids stand out this year with custom, yet still functional, school supplies.
Like this project? Be sure to pin it.
Tell me what school supply would you personalize using a Cricut?
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