Maple Insists: Two Iron-On Projects!

You remember when we took a day off from Maple's treasure-hunting during the rain and she insisted we try some iron-on projects? Well we finally get around to showing you that excitement. Haha.

We stopped in at Michael's to see what types of AG stuff they offer. Here is the website for AG-brand crafts: http://www.eksuccessbrands.com/licensedbrands/subbrand.htm?sbid=797 But it is fun to see them in person. The scrapbooking supplies and stickers look really nice, fyi.

We wanted to try some of their iron-on projects, so we picked up the tote bag and apron packages. They ain't cheap. If you want them we recommend using those Michael's coupons everyone always talks about. Pics of the packages.... front and back....

The first project we tried was the tote bag. We have yet to attempt the apron one because we failed so miserably with the tote bag. Haha. But we'll get around to it and show you guys how it went. Here are pics of the iron-ons that came in the tote bag package. There are doll-size ones and girl-size ones.

General warning about iron-ons, dolls, water, and staining...

The instruction booklet says to have an adult help you. Check.
Step One: Arrange all the pieces plastic-side up onto the tote bag to be sure they fit.
We wanted to put the owl in the center and then have four colored corners around him, but only 3 corners fit because of the bag shape. Our plan was to put the fourth corner on later.

Step Two: Place a pressing cloth, like a tea towel, over the iron-on transfer.
Step Three: Use a dry, medium cotton setting. Do not steam. Firmly press iron atop cloth and across every part of iron-on transfer for 20 seconds. Do not move the iron in circular motions.

Step Four: Let fabric cool.
Step Five: Remove pressing cloth.
Step Six: Seal the edges of your design by ironing around each edge for 5 more seconds. (Iron over the plastic sheet. No pressing cloth necessary.)
Step Seven: Allow iron-on to cool completely.
Step Eight: Peel up one corner of the plastic to check for adhesion. If the transfer is still attached to the plastic, immediately replace the plastic and repeat steps 5-7.

So yeah, we did all that. But with baking paper instead of a tea towel. And the iron-ons didn't transfer to the tote bag. So we keep repeating steps 5-7. Nada. And we turned up the heat. Nada. We pressed more firmly. Nada. Iron-ons just did not want to be on that bag.

And then the iron-ons started to wrinkle up/melt from the heat. Which is obviously not what is supposed to happen.

So we ruined one side of the bag. We will try the other side sometime, perhaps with different-brand iron-ons. We are curious to see if the iron-ons transfer more easily to the apron which is flatter/doesn't have the bulges of the tote bag. And we'll try our other iron, just in case in was an equipment issue.

Anyways, epic failure. In the end, we're not sure if it was us doing something wrong or the instructions, or the iron-ons, or the tote bag or what. But from our one experience we weren't very successful with this AG craft. :-(

We were so disappointed with our tote bag disaster that Penny gave us a black and white baseball shirt from Liberty Jane and some 3-D iron-on embellishments to use on it. So that is Project Number Two for this post. And luckily it worked fine. Baseball shirt pic....

Same towel under the shirt as under the tote bag. Same baker's paper under the iron. Same iron.
Step One: Arrange iron-on design on the shirt.

Step Two: Place baker's paper down on project.

Step Three: Put the iron on cotton setting.
Step Four: Iron one side for 10 to 15 seconds, pressing down firmly.
Step Five: Flip shirt over, iron from the other side for 20-25 seconds.
Step Six: Let cool. Don't touch the metal bits. They're hot. Haha.
Step Seven: Test to see if the iron-on is adhered to the shirt.

Check. On all fronts. Iron-On project success!

So Maple got this cool shirt with an A, a G, and a fleur-de-lis on it. And here she is modeling it below. She wanted to pose with the bowl of candles at the kitchen table for dramatic effect. We'll show the shirt in a normal, full-length setting as well, haha. So stay tuned! And of course, stay tuned for the apron attempt. ;-)

Thanks for visiting us today!

Let us know if you have any questions or comments. :-)