Pool Party Birthday- Part 1 - Amy Hill Creates

Party Favors

Party favors can be difficult to grapple with. How does one provide a great thank you to your guests, but make sure it’s not too expensive or cheap or tossed away later on. Each party I throw, I really try to make the party favors connect to the theme and be comprised of items the guests will continue to enjoy even after the party is done. For this year’s birthday party theme of pool party, we came up with the idea of pool bags and towels. I wanted to make the bags special and had the thought of personalizing them for each guest. This may seem like a daunting task, but with time and organization and a Cricut, I knew I could get it done.

First…Supplies

I scoured the internet for bags and came across Oriental Trading Co. On their site, I found packs of a dozen nylon drawstring bags in assorted colors for a good price. On Oriental Trading Co, I also came across sunglasses and cute beach ball lollipops which I thought would be cute additions to the pool bag. The next bit was the towels which we purchased from a bulk supplier.

How to personalize the bags…

I use evite to help me manage the invitations and the guest list. On my evite, I asked each adult to spell their child’s name and asked about their favorite color. Armed with this information, I used Cricut Design Space to write out all the guests names. I used Hello Kitty Round Font and ordered Cricut White Vinyl Iron On ahead of time to make sure I had enough material. After trying a few different brands, I like Cricut Iron on because it holds together well, transfers easily and does not come off my project. I use a Cricut Explore Air which I find easy to use and very fast and crisp when cutting items. When you cut out your items, remember to flip the material and make sure your material is shiny side down on the mat (so the vinyl is facing you). When weeding, it may be helpful to use a bright light source or Cricut’s new BrightPad which helps with seeing what you are weeding. When I have a lot of weeding to do, I cut out each item separately, put on a good tv show and go to town.

I had experience using the Cricut iron on with cotton fabrics, but was unfamiliar with ironing on to nylon. After some internet research, I ran a test bag and it worked beautifully. Here are my suggestions for using Cricut Iron On on nylon:

1) set your iron to polyester.

2) place a towel or heavyweight paper inside the bag or underneath your item

3) use a pressing cloth

4) press down for 20 seconds, lift and move to another section. Keep checking your item

5) let your item cool down before removing the plastic release. The plastic backing should release easily. If you encounter any resistance, put the backing back down and iron again.

I like the retro feeling of Hello Kitty Round Font. Make sure to cut the letters using the “mirror image” setting on the Cricut . A weeding tool is a necessity.

Necessary tools: Iron, Ironing Board, T-square, Pressing cloth and insert (I used a piece of heavy duty paper (like a paper bag) left over from a wrapping paper roll.

Using a T-square to line up the letters before ironing. Helps with centering the word on the bag.

Using a pressing cloth on top of the iron on helps ensure the bag won’t melt.

Finished bag….the letters are crisp and clear and the iron on transfers beautifully. The bag looks professionally made but really took no time at all.

The Finished Product

These bags took really no time at all and are a wonderful, personal give away bag that really thanks your guests for coming to the party. The Cricut helps with the cutting and really makes the end result look professional.
Thank you for visiting my site and I hope this has provided some help in tackling goodie bags and ironing onto nylon.