DIY Candy Target Parade Shirt and Candy Tote

My daughter is hands down a million times more fun to craft for than my boys have ever been! She gets SOO excited to see the end result of projects that I’m working on for her! So, naturally I thought it would be fun to craft her up a fun little DIY Candy Target Parade Shirt and Candy Tote to collect alllllll that candy that gets thrown at her at the 4th of July parade! Does anybody else come home with literally 4x the amount of candy they actually want their kids to get? haha!

I already had this simple white cutoff tank top in her closet, so I grabbed it and got designing!

I pulled up the new Cricut Design Space to get started! I hadn’t used it yet, so I was a little nervous. But, I quickly learned that I had ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO BE! You guys, the new design space is AH-MAZING! Everything runs so fast and smooth! It’s easier than ever to navigate – you will ALL love it! So fear no more and click here for —–> the new Cricut Design Space!

The design is super simple and I’ve got the Cricut Design Space file all ready for you!

YOU CAN ACCESS THE DIY CANDY TARGET PARADE SHIRT CRICUT DESIGN SPACE FILE HERE!

Just pull it up using the link above:

If you want to make any changes to the design, do it now! The design is currently sized to fit a 4T tank top! It’s 6 inches wide and 9 inches long. The easiest way to figure out if you need to resize it is to take the shirt you plan on putting the design on and then measure the area you want it to take up!

Then press Ctrl-A (Select All) and just drag the bottom corner until the design is the size that you want!

Then hit MAKE IT, in the top right hand corner!

This will be the next screen that pops up! Because you will be cutting the design on Iron-On vinyl, you will need to hit the button on the right hand side of the screen that reads “Mirror (for Iron-on). Do this for both the blue layer 1 and the red layer 2.

After you click the Mirror (for Iron-on) button your design will now appear mirrored (like above), and also the button will have turned green.

Then hit the green Continue button in the bottom right hand corner.

Then follow the prompts on the screen. Start by turning the knob on your Cricut Explore Air to Iron-On.

Next get your Cricut Iron-On ready! Have you tried using the Cricut Iron-on product yet? It’s such good quality and there are several different kinds to choose from! I’ve personally tried the Foil Iron-On, Iron-On Lite, and Sparkle Iron-On! They also have this awesome Printable Vinyl that makes customizing projects extra easy! It’s perfect for kids shirt designs, team logo’s, etc! The opportunities are endless with the printable vinyl!

One other thing that I wanted to mention is that the rolls of the vinyl are the perfect amount of Iron-On for a project day like this! With one roll of blue Iron-On and one roll of red Iron-On, I was able to make both the Candy Target Shirt and also the Candy Tote!

Then cut a the piece of blue Iron-on and red Iron-on just bigger then your design. Place the Iron-on vinyl SHINY SIDE DOWN onto your 12×12 Regular Mat and load it into your Cricut Explore Air machine!

When prompted hit the CUT button on your machine!

Go ahead and repeat the above steps to cut your Iron-On for the Candy Tote!

YOU CAN ACCESS THE CANDY TOTE CRICUT DESIGN SPACE FILE HERE!

Don’t forget to make sure you measure the tote you got and confirm that the 9″ wide x 6″ tall design fits like you’d like it to! If needed, hit Ctrl-A and adjust the size of your design!

And when you go to cut the Iron-On, make sure you hit the Mirror Image button, before sending the cut file to your Cricut Explore Air machine!

Now to Iron-on the design! Pull out your Ironing Board and Iron and then set your Iron to the Linen setting. I’m going to show you the steps for applying the design on the Candy Tote Bag. I purchased the white tote bags at my local Michael’s store. But, it is very similar to this set of white cotton totes on Amazon!

First, these 5 Easy Steps to Make Sure your Iron-On Project Sticks are GREAT TIPS! I highly suggest reading them if this is your first Iron-On project!

For the Candy Tote Bag, you’re going to want to start with the BLUE LAYER. This is because the red wording, overlaps on top of the word July.

The easiest way to make sure the design is centered is to measure the bag and lightly mark the center with a really light pencil mark. And then look on your design space screen and find the center of your overall design. Then match those up when placing the blue layer and then again when placing the red layer.

Once you have the blue layer centered and placed on the tote, it’s time to apply it. I like to take a simple piece of thin fabric and place it over the design. Then you’ll take your iron and use the press and push method (mentioned in the 5 Easy Steps article linked above) over the entire design while applying a good amount of pressure. After going over the entire design twice, then set the iron down and see if you can remove the plastic film from the design. If not, apply another round of heat over the entire design and try again. If you can remove the film, then do so and then put the fabric back down for the design and run the iron over the design for another 15-30 seconds consistently moving the iron all over the design.

Then repeat for the red layer.

Once the red layer is attached and the plastic film is removed, put the fabric back down over the entire design and run the iron over the entire design for another 30-45 seconds seconds consistently moving. You do not want one area to get too much heat, so again Stress that you keep that iron moving!

A few tips for the the Candy Target Shirt application:

• If you purchased a new shirt, start with washing and drying it first.
• Turn the Iron setting to Cotton (assuming your shirt is cotton)
• Apply the RED LAYER first! Because the outside circle of the bullseye is red, it will help you place the design in the center of the shirt. Then finish it off with the blue layer.

I am seriously so happy with how they turned out! And as you can tell from all the fun pictures below, Dylan was more than happy with them too! The entire project should only take you less than hour total!

Thanks for crafting with me today! Have a great day!