DIY Christmas Banner with Glitter and Holographic HTV

My Christmas decorations went up last weekend and this weekend we’ll put up the tree and our outdoor lights. Looking around the house I realized, even with the tree, it’s just not festive enough inside my house. I need more red! More green! More sparkle! So what did I do? I got crafty with Siser® HTV of course!

I picked up a linen banner with red stripes from a dollar bin and got to brainstorming festive ways to decorate it with heat transfer vinyl. Finally I decided on “Be Merry” with a Christmas ornament between the words. The font is Harrington and I took the ornament from a free image on Cricut Design Space.

I did not attach my letters before cutting because I wanted the software to automatically arrange the letters to save the most material. If I was applying this design to a t-shirt where my alignment needs to be spot on I would have attached them, but since I’ll be separating the letters and applying them individually I’m better off leaving the letters unattached.

If the words are attached for cutting, they would’ve required a 12×24 mat and wasted material.

The letters are unattached so they can be arranged to use the least amount of HTV.

Always check the “Mirror Image for Iron On” box before cutting HTV and check out this post to determine your cut settings on the Cricut Explore Air. Don’t be afraid to try other settings on the Cricut Smart Dial to achieve a good cut. I ended up using “Iron On+” to cut Glitter and “Light Cardstock” to cut Holographic.

After cutting, weed away the extra vinyl around the outside and insides of the letters using your Siser Weeder.

Then cut the clear carrier sheet so that each letter is a separate piece.

To adhere the transfers to my banner I’m using a home iron with the “Linen” setting. Of course you could do this project with a heat press. In which case just follow the time, temperature, and pressure instructions that can be found conveniently on the Siser North America app, or on the Siser website.

Always press on a solid surface, like a wood table. We do not recommend using an ironing board.

When the iron is hot, I centered my first green glitter letter on a scallop of the banner, covered everything with a heat transfer cover sheet and pressed for 15 seconds. Do not slide the iron while heat applying HTV. Sliding can cause the transfer to shift out of alignment.

While the clear carrier is still warm from the heat of the iron, peel it away. I repeated this process for each letter of the Christmas banner.

Glitter is a warm peel.

When I came to the red Holographic ornament I followed the same steps for heat application, but I peeled Holographic’s carrier when it was completely cooled.

Holographic is a cold peel.

To finish it off I strung all the pieces on some twine.

Now my DIY Christmas banner is ready to display!

Loving the sparkle of Glitter…

and the shimmer of Holographic!

Looking for even more ideas to make your home merrier? Check out these tips for a perfect holiday mantel over on the Redfin Blog.

Siser Glitter and Holographic HTV can be purchase from any Authorized Distributor or Reseller. Contact them so you can deck out your place for the holidays! Not sure who your local distributor is? Email info@siserna.com and we’ll connect you with a authorized seller!