Mariah of MJ Creative Co is on the blog showing you how to use two colors of our Color Chimp heat transfer vinyl to create a a fun wine bag and sharing an exclusive, hand-lettered free cut file that you can use in your own projects!  Looking for more inspiration, ideas and free cut files? Head over to the Craftey Community and join in on the fun!

I don't know about you, but I am a BIG fan of wine and wine-related crafts. Champagne specifically is one of my absolute favorite adult drinks (if you're of legal drinking age and looking for a good bottle, my favorite is Mumm Napa Cuvee M). Champagne is typically consumed in times of celebrations, but I choose to use it to celebrate all the little things in life, not just the big things.

This DIY two-color wine bag is the perfect project for the next time you bring a bottle to a party or give one as a gift. I use vinyl all the time to dress simple items up to give them a little more pizzazz, and this wine bag is one of those things you can buy for super cheap and make it look extra special.

Supplies:

• Blank wine bags (I bought these in a pack of 10 on Amazon)
• Color Chimp Glitter HTV (I used Light Gold)
• Color Chimp Luxe HTV (I used White)
• Weeding Tools
• Cutting Machine - like the Cricut Explore Air 2
• Heat Press/Iron
• Parchment Paper or a Teflon Sheet
• Pop Fizz Clink Free SVG Cut File (download it here)

Cutting the HTV

It was really important during this DIY to cut the two designs completely separately. Because of the difference in thickness between the Glitter and Luxe HTVs, they have to be cut on different settings on my Cricut. In order to confirm that both files would be cut and fit together, I made sure to import both of them to confirm sizing each time, and then delete the one that I was not cutting.

I started with the gold glitter piece - in your cutting program, make sure to attach or weld the file together so it all stays together in one piece when cutting. Putting the shinier side down on my mat, I set my Cricut to Iron-On+ and mirrored the design (very important with HTV) and cut.

After the glitter, I moved on to the white luxe HTV piece. Following the same directions, I attached the file, put the Luxe HTV shiny side down on my mat, mirrored the design, and changed the cut setting to Vinyl (my blade is new, so sometimes I have to cut my vinyl on a lower setting when it's super sharp so it doesn't go through the transfer tape.

After both are cut, it's time to weed. I used my handy dandy Craftey weeding tool set to weed like normal. The Luxe HTV is super easy to weed, and easy to see where you are going when you're removing the white space. The glitter is a little more difficult to see exactly what is there, because it leaves behind the glitter. I like to push the boundaries on how small of details I can cut, and the glitter HTV handled the small details like a pro. When weeding, though, I had to go slowly as some of the little pieces got pulled up a little bit when I was removing what wasn't part of the design, and the glitter texture makes it harder to see the small details. But if you go slow, you shouldn't have a problem!

Heat Pressing

When I prepped for heat pressing, I wasn't sure exactly what material the wine bag was made of, so I decided to be extra cautious when heat pressing. I put a piece of parchment paper under the bag in addition to over the HTV. After doing it, I should have definitely put a piece of parchment in the bag to protect the inside, as the bag sort of stuck together. I acted fast though, so if you are in the same boat as me, just make sure you pull the sides of the bag open when the bag is still warm.

After doing a quick press on the bag itself to warm it up and make it wrinkle-free, I started with the glitter vinyl. When doing a two-color design, it is really important for you to start with the larger piece, or the outside design, to make sure that the design is centered on what you are heat pressing on.

I heat pressed according to the directions on the Craftey shop page and peeled up the transfer tape slowly. As this was the first time I've crafted with the glitter HTV, I was pleasantly surprised that the glitter on it did not come off on the bag, and did not get all over my hands when I was working with it. Glitter is usually so difficult, but this vinyl is AMAZING and looks so pretty.

I then situated the second piece, the white Luxe HTV wording, on top of the glitter design. I had to pick it up a couple of times to make sure I got it in the right place, but doing the glitter one first really helped in placing the words in the right spot. I specifically made the glitter design so it was perfectly surrounding the words, but gave a little leeway in case you couldn't get it perfect.

Repeating the same amount of time and heat, I put the parchment paper over both, pressed again to adhere the white HTV, and peeled the transfer tape slowly to remove it. To finalize the design, I put the parchment paper back over the design and pressed for a short time just to make sure everything was permanently on there. 

Finally, slip in your favorite bottle of champagne and enjoy (with or without friends, no one is judging here)!

For more amazing ideas & inspiration, visit the Craftey Community page!

by Guest Blogger December 27, 2019 Color Chimp Heat Transfer Vinyl DIY Freebies HTV Tips & Tricks Tutorial Vinyl Project