DIY Kids Christmas Shirt with Free Cut File

Have any dinosaur lovers at your house?  They would love you forever for making this DIY Kids Christmas Shirt.  It’s perfect for the season.

This post contains affiliate links which mean I make a little something when you purchase through the link with no extra cost to you.

I am so excited about this fun project!  For this design, I worked with Alicia from Sew What Alicia, who created the triceratops design.  Alicia asked me to help out with the word art and together, we created this really fun triceratops for Christmas design!

As you know, heat transfer vinyl is one of my favorite things to craft with.  Plus I got to use my hand lettering skills to help create this cute cut file.  So this project was a win win for me right from the start. 

To make this project, Alicia used some really awesome heat transfer vinyl from Happy Crafters.

Heat Transfer Easyweed Vinyl in black, cream, red, and apple

Glitter Heat Transfer Vinyl in white

Green Pixel Heat Transfer Vinyl

Along with this amazing vinyl, you’ll need:

Cricut Cutting Machine

Cricut EasyPress 2

EasyPress Mat

Cutting Mat

Weeding Tools

Grab the triceratops cut file over at Sew What Alicia – Triceratops Cut File

Grab the Triceratops word art cut file here – Triceratops for Christmas

The word art download has both the script font version and the sans serif font version in the download.  I love when there are options!

Tips For Using Heat Transfer Vinyl

The first thing to remember when using Heat Transfer Vinyl (also known as iron-on vinyl) is that the design image needs to be cut as a mirror image.  Which means that the design will cut backwards.  Because the design will cut backwards, the heat transfer vinyl will need to be placed face down (shiny side down) onto your cutting mat when loaded into the machine. When weeding the unwanted vinyl once it is cut, leave the plastic cover in tact on the design.

Once you’re ready to iron the heat transfer vinyl onto your shirt, use a hard sturdy surface to do the ironing.  Place a folded towel or the Cricut EasyPress mat down on the hard surface.  Lay your shirt down and place your heat transfer vinyl down so the plastic cover of the vinyl is on top and the design is the correct way.  Place the iron or EasyPress down on the vinyl and with light pressure, heat the vinyl for the time listed in the instructions for the type of vinyl you are using.

Once the design is ironed onto the shirt, remove the plastic cover, and if the vinyl tries to come away with the plastic cover, lay the cover back over the vinyl and iron again.  Always, always, always make sure the vinyl is covered with some sort of protective cover before placing an EasyPress or iron onto the project. 

You can check out this post on how to create a custom shirt with the Cricut Explore Air 2 for more details on how to use iron on vinyl.

To get the full tutorial for this project, you can see it over at Happy Crafters.

If you love the triceratops for Christmas design, you will probably love this Hippopotamus for Christmas design I just added to my digital cut files shop.

Alicia and I would love to know if you craft up a couple Triceratops DIY kids Christmas Shirts.  Tag us on social media or send us a pic so we can see your awesome craft skills!

Happy Crafting!

Liz