DIY- rub on transfers

Have you ever wanted to make your own rub-on transfers? Well, now is your chance. I found this super easy tutorial online and I tried it out. And it works. You only need a few supplies to make it work.

Here's what you'll need

1 Copier Transparency
Fine Mist Hair Gel
Hairspray
Hair Dryer
Ink Jet Printer

Instructions:

Step 1: Spray the fine mist hair gel onto the transparency {I used an aerosol gel + hairspray, and it worked great}. Put the film on a towel, which will allow you to see if you're getting even coverage. Spray about 8-12" away from the film. Don't allow the gel to run down the page, by spraying too much. You want just enough to cover the entire film.

Step 2: Blow dry the gel onto the transparency. It won't take very long, maybe 30 seconds or so.

Step 3: Reverse your image. You can either do this in the printer setting before printing, or in the program that you created the document in. {I used Adobe Illustrator. But any type of design program will work. I hate to admit it, but even Word will work for this}

Step 4: Print out your design using a regular ink jet printer. {But make sure to print it out reversed}. Print out your image using a normal print setting. You don't want the ink to run. If you're afraid of any other images transferring onto what you are putting the rub-on onto, do not print any excess images on a single transfer. Only print what you'd like to rub-on. {I printed multiple images, because I wanted to do this quicker. Plus, I was careful not to touch any of the other images, so that they wouldn't transfer onto something I didn't want them to}.

Note: Use black ink! This will work the best for what you're doing. I tried other colors, and it didn't work out as well.

Step 5: Take your film with your printed image on it, and put it back on the towel. Blow dry. Make sure that the ink is completely dry.

Step 6: Spray hairspray over the top of the image. And blow dry. {I used the same gel + hairspray over the top of mine and it worked. The product I used was called Samy Fast Style, Styling Mist, gel & hairspray all in one! Wow, that's a long name!}



Step 7: Place your film over the desired area to transfer the image onto and rub it off! You can use a bone folder, Popsicle stick or spoon to rub it off. It's that simple. Just make sure to rub the entire area to get the whole image off onto your page.

Vwala! You have your very own handmade rub-on transfer. I used these rub-on transfers to make my "babies first book" series, pictured above and here , as well as below on these Mother's Day cards.


{The bird was a hand cut stamp, but the words "MOM" was a rub-on transfer}