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This is how it is around our house…

But everyone, especially our furry family members, deserve a very merry Christmas. There is nothing that makes a long day brighter than the excited welcome as we walk through the door.

Don’t let those cute faces fool you, haha. These two can be trouble makers if they so choose, but they are generally well-mannered. This week marks the one year anniversary of adopting both Crash (left) and Pepper (right). Both are sad stories but Crash is especially heart wrenching (adopted by us at 3 years old, but we are family #5). He has the Eeyore face to show it. However, with love,  consistent expectations, and a lot of training rewards, these sweet babies have come a long way from their unruly days. They are really working hard to stay on Santa’s nice list.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t always have pockets to carry around training treats. So I came up with a way to easily add a pouch to their leash that holds my phone, some treats, or doggie business bags. To give them some Christmas cheer for their gift baskets, I transferred images onto the fabric and here is how:

How to Transfer an Image onto Fabric

As my longtime readers know, for fabric images, I usually make stencils with my silhouette cameo or print directly onto the fabric. However, I understand that not everyone has one of these machines so I wanted to find a way to get the image onto fabric with out a stencil or the ability to print directly on the fabric for items like purses or pouches.

Supplies:

• Fabric ( I used inexpensive favor pouches) – this works best on tightly woven and flat fabric material
• A home printer
• clear plastic pocket protectors
• a slightly damp sponge

Make or find your design. You can size it as you need in Microsoft Word. For this method, make sure you reverse the image before you print it. I use glossy paper printing and best quality.

Cut the edge off of the page protectors or other plastic to size. The backing on label sheets work excellent for this as well. I have tried the wax paper and if you have a printer that loads and outputs from the front, DO NOT USE WAX PAPER! I will absolutely save you the two hours of trying to get that paper jam out that I have experienced in the past.

Wipe the fabric down lightly with the slightly damp sponge. The sponge allows the ink to spread a bit into the fabric. Too much water means that the image will spread too much, so use sparingly.

Print your image and immediately lay the image printed side down onto your fabric. Make sure not to move the image to avoid smudges.

So you might be wondering if this is washable. There are some considerations and I have tried them in the past. First, if you are using a pigment based ink (check your printer guide), then it should be washable. However, test first. If using a dye based ink, I would consider hand washing at least the first few times or testing a small area (or scrap) to be sure. Dye based inks do have a tendency to fade or release in the wash.

Pretty cute, huh? Much of how the image will transfer onto your fabric depends on your printer and how much ink it uses to print. My printer uses very little in and, thus, I get more of a lighter weathered look. However, I have tried this technique with other printers and it varies. If you would like a uniform look or the image doesn’t transfer in spots, use a fabric marker to fill in the areas.

Every year, we make our dogs a nice stocking or sweet gift basket full of treats and training items. We got PEDIGREE® Marrobone® Mini Beef Flavor Dog Snacks for training, but on Christmas morning, Crash and Pepper do tend to want to “help” us open the presents. Cardboard boxes and crinkly wrapping paper are just so enticing!

Do you make a special gift for your furry family members? If you want some inspiration for Christmas with your pets, check out these paw-some gift ideas!

(and Crash and Pepper)

More Easy Crafts:

Printable Holiday Gift Tags

Charming Free Printable Holiday Gift Tags

Image Transfer for Drawing or Painting