Hi friend! As usual I was goofing around in my studio, trying new substrates. When I stumbled upon a way to sublimate holographic laminate sheets! These are not only smudge proof, but they are water resistant and highly durable. You can use them for a variety of purposes, and today I’m sharing how you can use them to make beautiful Christmas ornaments! (Stay tuned for more ideas on how you can incorporate these stickers in your craft projects.) So, let’s get started!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links, at no additional cost to you. #sublimation
How to Sublimate Holographic Laminate Sheets
You may be asking yourself, “why would I want to sublimate holographic laminate sheets?” Let me tell you, so many reasons! Let’s go over some points:
- These come out so much clearer than my regular clear stickers, my regular inkjet is subpar compared to my sublimation printer.
- Unlike other sublimation stickers on the market right now (I’ve only seen clear and white), these are holographic and there are a variety of holographic laminate sheet designs available. More Variety!
- You can now use your sublimation printer on items that are not sublimation ready like these craft acrylic ornaments I’m sharing today. In my experience, acrylic not made for sublimation often warps with the high heat and doesn’t hold up well with sublimation, so this technique is a work around. And of course, it sparkles!
- Affordability, with this method, (providing you already have the sublimation printer, etc.) you don’t always have to spend the extra money on the sublimation ready items, which are often more expensive, you can now opt for the less expensive alternative and get sparkly results!
These are just some points off the top of my head, but I’m sure there are more!
Holographic Acrylic Christmas Ornaments with Sublimation
Now that you know that it’s possible to sublimate laminate sheets, let’s put this method to practical use. Yes you can make stickers, but how about some beautiful Christmas Ornaments?
What you need to get started to sublimate holographic laminate sheets to create ornaments:
First, I want to say that not all laminate sheets are created equal. I tested a few brands and I found the one that gave me the most consistent results was TeckWrap, and I’ve updated the link below. I also found that depending on the holographic designs the results varied. So please do a test with your materials and adjust times, temps as needed because other factors go into the end results, paper, ink, heat press etc.
I conducted a series of tests on a number of laminate sheets and found the sheets with a green or teal paper work great at 375F and for between 60-70s. These were all from the same variety pack, so they may vary depending on which assortment you buy.
Any laminate sheets that I tried that had a blue paper, did not work and would melt or the paper would stick to it.
So be sure to check the back of your sheets. If you are using another brand, your results may vary as well.
As with all sublimation projects, before you begin, please make sure your work area is well ventilated.
Supplies:
Cricut Joy Xtra Light Grip Mat (part of the bundle linked above)
Sublimation Paper( I use 125 G)
I used a variety of design from this site, search Nativity Stained Glass
I created a very detailed step by step video tutorial to walk you through this process, check it out below:
Don’t they look amazing? I’m really excited about this technique I stumbled upon, and I have tons more ideas swimming in my head on how we can use these for more than just stickers! Stay tuned and if you try this out, please tag me on Social @michellespartyplanit, I’d love to see your creations!
I also created these Acrylic Frames using the same technique, check it out below:
Need more sublimation ideas? Check these other fun projects out!
HOW TO SUBLIMATE ACRYLIC LED FRAMES
HOW TO SUBLIMATE GLASS ORNAMENTS
HOW TO SUBLIMATE ON GLASS CUTTING BOARDS
Happy Crafting and God Bless!
4 comments
These all look so nice and I would love to make some but am having an issue. The sublimation paper stuck to the laminate sheet. When I tried to peel the paper off it pulled the laminate off the backing. Any tips to prevent this?
I have updated the post with detailed instructions about which paper worked and which ones didn’t. Hope this helps.
This should work with the Cricut Easypress?
yes