How to Use Iron On to Backpacks with Cricut EasyPress Mini

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.

Sharing how to use iron on to backpacks with the Cricut EasyPress Mini- and sharing two backpack designs perfect for kids, a holographic mermaid backpack and a teenager space backpack.

Cricut is doing such a fun campaign right now and I’m so honoured to participate. They’ve asked a bunch of their blogging partners to create decorated backpacks to charities that provide backpacks full of goods for children transitioning into foster care. They’re assigning us a couple age groups and setting us loose. This was so fun to get creative with and I really loved being introduced to an initiative like this- something I hadn’t thought about as a need before.

I’ll chat more about the charity at the end of the post and if you’d like to get involved how you can… but for now, the DIYs! I’ll share both the projects in Cricut Design Space so you can make them yourself plus tips to iron on to backpacks!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine.

The two age groups I was assigned were a 3-4 year old girl and a 13-14 year old boy. I had NO trouble coming up with the little girls backpack- because Aubrey isn’t much past that. I knew I wanted to make a mermaid one right away, but the teenage boy? I don’t have any of those! I spent some time looking for ideas online and then when I spotted the Star Wars themed iron on Cricut carries, I thought that would make for a rad space themed backpack.

DIY HOLOGRAPHIC MERMAID BACKPACK

This backpack was so fun to make mostly because this material is so stinking fun. It’s my first time using the holographic iron on and I’m addicted. I made a shirt for my daughter using leftover shells after making this backpack, because I couldn’t waste those cuties. For this project, I used a basic backpack in mint and one holographic iron on sampler.

You can grab my project right here. I did double the shells from this, pick and choose which shells you want to do and copy paste if you want any doubles!

You’ll also want to measure how big the pocket is on your backpack to make sure that the ‘mermaid in training’ badge fits. I have it sized for this specific backpack. When you hit ‘make it’ make sure to hit ‘mirror’ on the badge since it has words and this is iron on material.

Weed it, then it’s time to iron on to backpacks! I found that because the backpack is so lumpy and creasy it’s easiest to use the EasyPress mini. You need it on the middle heat setting and it’s important to put your easy press mat or a towel inside the backpack to keep the wax coating on the inside of the backpack from melting to each other. Iron for 30 seconds, then press it down while it cools (I used a towel for this) I pressed it down even thought that’s not a typical instruction because the bag is so creasy and as soon as you let off the pressure of the EasyPress, it creases before it’s cooled, pulling the design away before the adhesive sets. Holding a towel with pressure on top of the design prevents this making your transfer iron on to backpacks much better.

Once it’s cool, peel away your backing and you’re good to go! If you have an area that hasn’t transferred completely (you start to peel the backing and part of the design starts peeling up) put the backing back down and add about 10 seconds more of heat.

The scales cut in almost one full sheet. I then took that sheet and measured right on my backpack to see how I would cut them to fit. I added scales at the top of the back of the backpack (above the badge) and on both sides where the pocket style patches were. I cut the straight cuts with a rotary cutter and used scissors for the curves. Again, I used the EasyPress Mini for this just to make sure I got into all the little corners and creases.

The last thing I did was add shells to the straps. I will note that the heat needed to transfer the designs seems to melt the foam inside of the straps so they’re not puffy anymore. I just ironed all the straps to make them all flat. If this is going to bother you, I’d suggest skipping it!

And there you go! A shiny and super fun holographic mermaid backpack!

DIY Space Backpack

For this backpack, I chose a dark green basic backpack because I loved the colour but black or blue would work great as well. I used one sheet from the Star Wars iron on variety pack and scraps of white iron on.

The project I made (grab it here!) used Cricut images and fonts and I wrote ‘I need Space’. You could skip the text all together or write something different like, ‘space-tastic’. When you hit ‘make it’ on the project, make sure to click ‘mirror’ so that your text doesn’t iron on backwards. Then, you can weed it and iron it on!

When it’s time to iron on to backpacks, I found that because the backpack is so lumpy and creasy it’s easiest to use the EasyPress mini. You need it on the middle heat setting and it’s important to put your easy press mat or a towel inside the backpack to keep the wax coating on the inside of the backpack from melting to each other. Iron for 30 seconds, then press it down while it cools (I used a towel for this) I pressed it down even thought that’s not a typical instruction because the bag is so creasy and as soon as you let off the pressure of the EasyPress, it creases before it’s cooled, pulling the design away before the adhesive sets. Holding a towel with pressure on top of the design prevents this.

Once it’s cool, peel away your backing and you’re good to go! If you have an area that hasn’t transferred completely (you start to peel the backing and part of the design starts peeling up) put the backing back down and add about 10 seconds more of heat.

Next up is that space themed iron on from the Star Wars pack! I just cut this to the pocket size using scissors, but you could measure your backpack and cut a rectangle using your Cricut if you prefer. Iron it on and I found a warm peel worked fine with this one!

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That’s it! Now your backpacks are good to go!

If you would like to donate them, like I will be, you can either check out Build a Bag for Foster Kids which is a Canadian initiative based out of Toronto, or if you’re in the US- The Blue Ribbon Project. If you can, include one or two items in the bag that they suggest on the site. The bags are given to kids who are entering the foster care system, often removed in emergency situations with little to no belongings. They’re also often given a garbage bag to carry their things- these bags could provide so much to kids in that time of crisis.