Harry, during a mere 7yrs on this planet, has accumulated approximately 9,847 soft animals.
Well, maybe somewhat less than that, though it certainly feels like a lot when you are saying goodnight to them each in turn. I feel a little like Maria must have done in the Sound of Music when trying to recall all the names of the von Trapp children, though at least hers only ran to single digits.
Still, I am in part to blame; most of the animals came from me, either directly or via my alter ego of Father Christmas. Now though, they need a home. Harry’s favourites still warrant a VIP place under the duvet each night, but what the others need is storage.
I discovered that for a mere £5 you can buy online a handful of giant paper sacks designed to hold 25kg of potatoes. I am not likely to ever successfully grow 25kg of any vegetable, so instead ordered some to use for stuffed animals, laundry and the myriad of art materials filling every surface of the art room. And then I decided to see if you can use t-shirt transfers to print on them – and you can! Instructions below…
Materials:
- Large paper sacks like these or these; iron them on a low heat if necessary to ensure a flat surface
- T-shirt transfer paper; I use Epson Cool Peel for most projects, including this one (not the cheapest, but really good results)
Step-by-Step
- Design your label and then print it onto the transfer paper, being careful to select ‘mirror image’ on your printer for any text. Print it out and leave to cool…
2. Position the transfer on your paper sack, being sure to leave enough space at the top if you want to roll it over as I’ve done here (I like the contrast between the white of the outer sack and the brown lining).
3. Iron on a medium heat to transfer the image or text; you might need a lower setting than with fabric to avoid scorching
4. Leave to cool, peel off the transfer paper and admire your handiwork.
5. Fill with animals, laundry, craft materials, family members *delete as applicable
Job done!
These would also look gorgeous at Christmas as personalised gift sacks (and require a little less effort than these!).
Have a wonderful weekend…
