Believe it or not, but back to school is just around the corner! (Especially for all of my American friends.) Even though I’m technically no longer a student, the back to school season still is one of my favourite times of the year.
From the fall fashions, to the cute pens, stationary, (am I the only person in 2019 who still loves writing in an actual notebook?!) and agendas – I love it all! Maybe it’s because I’m still heavily involved in the education industry since I work at a post-secondary institution, but it always feels like a fresh start, even more so than new years does to me.
In the spirit of the back to school season approaching, I thought I would show you a how to create personalized back to school supplies by sharing a quick and easy DIY using my Cricut Maker!
Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, or headed back to school yourself, I think we can all agree that a little personalization makes the whole back-to-school thing a little bit easier – especially when it comes to lunches! That’s why for this DIY we’re going to be making a personalized lunch bag and bento box.
I’ve always wanted a Bento Box myself, but I always found the designs of them to be a little boring. I know the whole “minimalist” thing is in, but I’ve always been a little over the top. So using my Cricut Maker, I decided to personalize my Bento Box and make a cute tote bag to carry it in.
For those of you who are parents, this DIY is especially handy because you could easily label your child’s lunch containers with their names in addition to a quote or their favourite character, to help them easily keep track of their containers. For my lunch bag and bent box, I opted to personalize it using some funny quotes.
The really awesome thing about this DIY is that you can apply the same method to customized almost anything your kid needs for back to school! From customized DIY notebooks, to DIY water bottles, backpacks and more! The possibilities are seriously endless with the Cricut Maker.
And even if you’re not headed back to school if you’ve ever had a Friends “The One With Ross’ Sandwich” moment I’m sure you’ll appreciate this DIY too ;).
Let’s get to it!
Tote lunch bag:
- Cricut Maker (Cricut.com / Amazon.ca)
- EasyPress 2 (Cricut.com / Amazon.ca) or an iron
- Iron-on material, in the colour of your choice – I used the Sport-flex iron-on for mine
- Cricut essential tools
- Standard-grip cutting mat
- Canvas tote bag – I got mine from the dollar store
- Cricut iron-on protective sheet
Step 1– creating your designs:
Create your design using Cricut Design Space. If you’re creating something with a quote or your child’s name, Cricut has loads of fonts available for free. They also have tons of images and designs for free too. If you’re graphic design savvy you can also upload your own designs in any of the following formats: .jpg, .gif, .png, and .bmp.
Step 2 – cutting your design:
Once your design is created, measure the area of your tote bag that you’d like your design to fill. Resize your design and then click “Make It!” Next, connect your Cricut machine and select “iron-on” from the materials. Make sure that you select mirror on!
Place the iron-on material onto the standard-grip cutting mat, with the shiny side facing down. Load your machine and click on the Cricut button once it begins to flash to start your cut. Once it’s done, weed your design – this is the process of removing the negative space from your cut.
Step 3 – iron-on transfer:
Before you iron-on your design, make sure that you iron your tote/canvas bag to remove as many as wrinkles and lines as possible to help ensure a better transfer. Place your design onto your material and then place the iron-on protective sheet on top.
Using the Cricut Heat Guide, set your EasyPress to the right temperature. Once it is heated, set the timer and place your EasyPress machine on-top. For canvas, use 340°F and heat for 30 seconds with light pressure.
Bento Box:
- Cricut Maker (Cricut.com / Amazon.ca)
- Cricut essential tools
- Standard-grip cutting mat
- Everyday vinyl, in the colour of your choice. I used matte gold adhesive foil.
- Transfer tape
- Bento box or lunch container – I got mine off of Amazon
Step 1 – create and cut your design:
Same as above, create or import your design in Cricut Design Space and measure the area that you want your design to fill. Set the machine’s material to everyday vinyl and load your machine and click the Cricut button when prompted. Once the cut is finished, weed out the negative space.
Step 2 – move your design over to the transfer tape:
Next, cut a sheet of transfer tape to the size of your design. Remove the backing and place it on top of your design use scraper tool from the essential tools kit to smooth out any air bubbles. Carefully peel back the transfer tape and your design.
Place your design onto the lunch container and use the scraper tool to remove any air bubbles once again. Carefully peel back the transfer tape. Ta-da, you’re done!
I love how easy it is to personalize things with the Cricut Maker. Overall, I’m really happy with how everything turned out. It’s funny how something as simple as a little bit of vinyl can completely transform an item. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – it’s one of my favourite materials to work with.
Happy crafting!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. While I may have received compensation and/or product mentioned in this post, the opinions and text are all mine. This post also contains affiliate links.
