White Elephant Gift Guide Ideas

Last updated 4/7/20

All of us here at Heat Transfer Warehouse love white elephant gifts. In fact, it is our tradition to participate in a white elephant gift exchange every holiday season. For those of you who plan on participating in a white elephant gift exchange, we're here to help! We've created a handful of fun, easy-to-do and inexpensive white elephant gifts - all using Heat Transfer Warehouse vinyl. In this blog, we'll walk you through each gift we've created with what materials were applied to each, and hopefully help you come up with some ideas for yourself to create!

Heat Transfer Vinyl Gifts

Dish Towel

Products used: Chemica Galaxy Stretchable Glitter - Light Blue and Silver

The first design we created using heat transfer vinyl was applied on a dish towel (that is intended to be used for decor only). You can use pretty much any heat transfer vinyl on a dish towel; however, we chose to use Chemica's Galaxy Stretchable Glitter. If you're looking for a sparkling glitter that will layer and stretch, then Galaxy Stretchable Glitter from Chemica is for you! This glitter heat transfer vinyl is semi-textured and includes high quality polyester glitter particles. It's also pretty thin for a glitter heat transfer vinyl, which is why it is very flexible and stretchable! As with any glitter, it is not recommended to cut in fine detail.

Wine Bag

Products used: Chemica Hotmark Revolution Low Temp - Red and Black

The second design we created using heat transfer vinyl was applied on a wine bag. You can use pretty much any heat transfer vinyl on a wine bag; however, we chose to use Chemica's Hotmark Revloution Low Temp. Chemica truly did well with the creation of this heat transfer vinyl. If you're looking for a product that works on cotton, polyester, acrylic and NYLON! Hotmark Revolution from Chemica is for you! Also, as in the product title, this revolutionary product has a low temperature and even a low time application - so it's great for those garments that are heat sensitive. Some other benefits of using Hotmark Revolution is that it has a flexible wear, can layer, is relatively thin and is super easy to weed! In fact, you may notice that this design on the wine bag here contains very thin letters and some intricate details - but this was all manageable to weed with Chemica's Hotmark Revolution!

Oven Mitt

Products used: ThermoFlex Turbo Low Temp - Red and White

The third design we created using heat transfer vinyl was applied on an oven mitt. Once again, you can pretty much use any heat transfer vinyl on an oven mitt; however, we chose to use ThermoFlex Turbo Low Temp. If you've ever used ThermoFlex Plus vinyl, you'll love ThermoFlex Turbo! With this heat transfer vinyl, you get all the great benefits of using ThermoFlex Plus, but with even more. Similar to Chemica's Hotmark Revolution, ThermoFlex Turbo is a universal product adhering to multiple fabrics, including cotton, polyester, cotton/polyester blends, and NYLON! It is durable, weeds easily, and has a soft hand and strong grip. Some other benefits of using ThermoFlex Turbo is that it can layer and it includes a very nice pressure sensitive carrier sheet. As in the product title, it is equipped with a special hotmelt for fast application at low temperature!

Sign (Adhesive) Vinyl Gifts

Wine Glass

Products used: Siser EasyPSV Permanent and EasyPSV Glitter - Holly Berry (Perm) and Diamond (Glitter)

The first design we created using Sign Vinyl was applied on a wine glass! As stated above, it is possible to apply heat transfer vinyl on glass; however, it's much easier to just use sign vinyl. This specific FDC sign vinyl is the 3700 series, and features a glossy finish, strong glitter accent to each color and 5 year outdoor durability. Once again, we used Clear Application/Transfer Mask with this. Overall, this product is perfect for creating decorative decals!

Coffee Cup

Products used: Oracal 651 Sign Vinyl - Green

The second design we created using Sign Vinyl was applied to a coffee mug! Just like glass, it is possible to apply heat transfer vinyl on a coffee mug; however, it's much easier to just use sign vinyl. This Oracal 651 is designed for all hard surface applications and features a high gloss finish with a 6 year outdoor durability. Note that this also features a solvent permanent adhesive, so it will not lift off as friendly as wall vinyl will. Clear Application/Transfer Mask also worked very well with this sign vinyl.

Straws Bag

Products used:

• Oracal 651 Sign Vinyl - Matte White and Dark Red

The third design we created using Sign vinyl was applied to the plastic wrapping of a bag of straws! We first used Oracal 651 sign vinyl to fully cover the top of the plastic wrapping (to cover up the logo and product title). We then used FDC Metallic sign vinyl for the lettering. This specific sign vinyl from FDC is the 2100 series. It features a permanent adhesive with a 6 year outdoor durability. It is very similar to normal FDC sign vinyl; however, this is offered in metallic finishes!   Clear Application/Transfer Mask was used.

.

Toilet Paper

Products used: Oracal 651 Sign Vinyl - Green and Red

The fourth and final design we created using Sign Vinyl was applied to toilet paper! Yes - we know this is an odd object to apply sign vinyl to! But remember, this is for a white elephant gift! Just like with the coffee mug and straws, we also used Oracal 651 Sign Vinyl for this. We also layered the some of the sign vinyl with a slight offset, as you may notice in the picture shown below (green layered over red). Overall, we found that Oracal 651 doesn't stick very well onto toilet paper, but it's not a hard surface and it's not like the toilet paper is going to be used (at least we hope not)! Also, for the fifth time we used Clear Application/Transfer Mask.

**In case you can't tell in the picture, the toilet paper is wrapped in plastic bag - just to make it look a little more pretty**

If you end up making a white elephant gift, we'd love to see your creation! Make sure to share it with us on social media here: Heat Transfer Warehouse Facebook Page