Embossed Monogram Hand Towel
Psssst… this post *might* contain affiliate links: see my disclosure here.
Imagine there’s a blogging merit badge. Like the girl scouts. Upholstered a stool? Here’s your patch. Painted the dining room? Patch. Repurposed a thrift store laundry basket into a pendant light? Patch. Patch. Well, today I got my Cricut patch for this cute embossed hand towel!
How to Emboss Fabric
Until I started blogging, I had never heard of the magical craft category: the craft cutting machine. Folks were using these machines to cut vinyl labels, design stationary, and make iron-on labels. And then Cricut rolled out the Cricut Explore. All of a sudden people were posting paper succulents and leather cuffs all produced from this mythical cutting machine. Well, I got one for Christmas and have been gingerly pressing buttons and trying to get a hang of the ol’ girl ever since. I’m nowhere near expert enough to write a post about all the bells and whistles, but…. I do have my first project ready to share! (Material list at the end of the post.)
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Right before Christmas, I finally found a use for my heat gun: embossing. Guys… OH. MY. EMBOSSING. I love it. It’s like a little bit of magic right there on your paper. Fast forward to sometime last month and I learn from the incomparable Lindsay on a Facebook thread about a post she did on embossing fabric. Ding ding ding! Shiny happy sparkly DIY monogrammed hand towel. Boom.
Step 1. Choose your Monogram
I started by finding the right “S” for the monogram. Â I settled on the Gujarati Sangam MN font.
Step 2. Cut out Monogram and Iron onto Fabric
With the Cricut, I cut out my monogram from freezer paper. (Another magical product, but that’s a whole ‘nother topic.) Following Lindsay’s steps, I ironed the freezer paper onto my Homegoods hand towel.
Step 3. Fill in Monogram with Mod Podge
Use a foam brush to fill in the “S” with mod podge.
Step 4. Cover with Embossing Powder
I sprinkled on my aqua embossing powder, removed the freezer paper and carefully poured off the excess.
Step 5. Heat Powder
Lastly, I slowly went over the monogram with my heat gun. When you’re embossing, you can see the powder melting, so just watch carefully and keep an eye out for any fabric discoloration from the heat gun (mine was fine, but a thinner fabric might not stand up to heat so well).
Super cute, right?! These hand towels were $5.99 for the pair, but with the custom monogram they look a lot closer to a million bucks. Wouldn’t these make the cutest bridal shower or birthday gift?
Materials for Embossed Hand Towel
(Affiliate links included for your convenience.)
This is so cool! I haven’t seen people using embossing powder on fabric before. I have used my cricut for nearly everything, but I still haven’t tried freezer paper stencils! Maybe today is the day. Thanks for linking to my leather cuff!
It would NEVER have crossed my mind until I’d been chatting with Lindsay. She gets FULL credit, but I love the possibilities. The freezer paper stencil was so easy. Because you iron it on, the edge was SO crisp and didn’t peal up the way a vinyl label sometimes does. And re. your leather cuff, I would like 12 of them- 6 for each arm. AMAZING!
How do they launder? Does the embossing stay on?
I haven’t had to wash ours yet because I just put them out, but Lindsay from Makely Home DID launder her embossed t-shirt and said it held up great. I’d probably avoid high heat, but I’ll post an update if there’s anything remarkable I learn. The beauty of trying these on $6 hand towels is the risk/ reward is pretty good! 🙂