How I Turned Stuff I Found in The Back of My Closet into Unique Summer Accessories (DIY)

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

Recently, I was organizing my closet and came across a handful of items that could really use a makeover – a pair of sandals, a plain bandana, I even found a water bottle hiding under one on my shelves! It’s amazing what you find when you make an effort to clean out your closet, right?! I set them all aside to paint or dye on another day and continued to organize. BUT as my mind started to wonder away from hanging an endless pile of clothing that had accumulated on the floor (whoops), it hit me that I didn’t need a paint brush (or a bottle of dye) to transform the pieces in my closet. I could just use my Cricut Maker.

So, I partnered with Cricut on this DIY summer accessories post to share how you can do the same with pieces you already have. Click through to see how you can make your own (and grab the free downloads for the patterns I created).

This time around, I’m tackling iron-ons with my Cricut Cricut EasyPress 2 again, but ALSO trying something new with Cricut premium vinyl for items that I can’t use my EasyPress on (like the water bottle). So, it’s kind of the best of both worlds.

Similar to last time, I created a handful of simple designs that I thought would look cool on the accessories I already had to work with. This time though, I played around with Procreate to draw out the patterns instead of Photoshop. From an amateur prospective, it’s sooooo much better for creating designs like this than Photoshop, if you want to create your own! BUT if you don’t want to make your own designs, I have you covered with 3 patterns that I created just for you (for free).

Design Files for Summer Pattern Projects

Download the ‘sideways landscape’ design here (as seen on the bandanas).
Download the ‘groovy wave’ design here (as seen on the sandals).
Download the ‘flower mountains’ design here (as seen on the water bottle).

How to Embellish a Plain Bandana (with Iron-On)

Let’s start with the easiest of the three projects: the bandana. As with any iron-on project, once you have a design ready, you upload it to the Cricut Design space and start cutting immediately. I used Cricut’s Everyday Iron-On in white for the blue bandana and lilac for the white bandana that is hanging on my straw bag.

Once the design was cut and weeded, I used the EasyPress 2 to heat set the design. My temperature for this one was 330 degrees and I did 30 second intervals until the design was completely adhered. You can use this heat guide to help determine the right temperature and timing for your project though.

You can use the finished bandanas for so many things this summer – as an accessory for styling outfits, tied to a tote bag, even as an art piece in your home (which I fully plan to do with the blue bandana).

How to Add an Iron On Design to Shoes

Next up, shoes! I had an old pair of sandals in my closet that were still sitting in the box – never worn (probably because they felt a bit plain, but I couldn’t return them because they were on mega sale), that ended up being the perfect ‘canvas’ for this project. I cut the designs onto Cricut Everyday Iron-on using my Cricut Maker, weeded each design, and then started with the EasyPress 2. I set the temperature to 330 degrees and did 20 second intervals all around the shoe strap until the design was fully adhered. I have a more detailed step-by-step instructions for using the EasyPress 2 here (DIY iron-on projects) if you want to check it out.

Couple of tips to make this process easier with a shoe…I stuffed the shoe (as shown in the photo above) with fabric so that it was rounded and used an empty cardboard roll from one of the iron-on rolls to prop up the shoe on each side. I would recommend starting on one end of the shoe, then working your way to the middle and other end. I found that really helps in getting a consistent application without any ripples.

How to Add a Vinyl Design to a Water Bottle

Lastly, the water bottle! For this design, I used Cricut premium vinyl – permanent. It comes in a bunch of colors (I used tangerine) and it’s permanent adhesive lasts up to three years, so I thought I’d test it out. The process for cutting the vinyl is similar to any other material you’d cut with the Cricut Maker. Once the design has been weeded though, I added transfer tape to get the vinyl onto the water bottle. There are directions included in the transfer tape roll, but like most Cricut things, it’s a really easy process. Just a couple of steps.

I love all of the projects, but if I had to pick a favorite, the sandals would be at the top of my list. What about you? Pretty sure I will be wearing them everywhere now, which is funny because I had literally NEVER worn them outside before adding the iron-on design. It makes such a big difference…and it is really making me want to design a few pairs of shoes.

Which project is your favorite? What else can you think of that could be embellished with vinyl or iron-on material like this for summer?