Black History Month Tee Using Cricut Infusible Ink + Easypress

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

January has come and gone and here we are finally in February. HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH! Around this time of the year I feel the immense pressure to do all of the Black things; read the books, watch the documentaries, attend the events, have the conversations, and support every Black Business that I see. This is an unrealistic expectation that I’ve placed on myself especially as a person of influence online. I think with recent events we’ve been reminded that just because you don’t see a person sharing what or how they’re doing doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening or that those things aren’t important to or affecting them. That said, I am Black 365 days a year and every day I strive to frequent more Black spaces, surround myself and my family in positive imagery, portrayals, and comforts of our heritage and support my people beyond one month of the year.

Almost three years ago, I started creating affirmation tees for my kids (sometimes I sell them) and this is one of my favorite ways to celebrate our culture, teach my kids the beauty in being different, and empower them when society won’t. When Cricut asked me to create a project for Black History Month using their Infusible Inks, I knew exactly which one of my designs I’d be working with. Because tees are my thing, I decided to zhoosh up my Brown Girl Power tee that I created for Kiki when she was just a tiny tot. The original design was white, printed on a black tee, but in this project, we went with a very bold and stylish ombre leopard on white!

Cricut‘s Infusible Ink heat transfers are permanently infused into the fabric so you don’t have to worry about flaking, peeling, or cracking. The design moves with the fabric versus sitting on top of it. I will admit that I was nervous to use these because they look and feel like scrapbook paper. I made sure to have extra sheets and shirts on standby just in case, but I succeeded on the first try producing a vibrant transfer.

Making this project was simple and similar to my last iron-on project. In Design Space, I started a new project, uploaded my image, resized it to 6.5 inches to fit Cricut’s youth small tee and sent it to my Cricut Explore Air 2. I made sure to mirror my image, then I set my Cricut Explore Air to custom and in Design Space selected Infusible Ink Iron-on.

I loaded my Infusible Ink transfer sheet on to a standard grip mat ink side up. After the cut was complete, I cut around my design and did some weeding. It was super easy to weed with just my fingers.

While my design was being cut, I preheated my Easypress to 385 F and set the timer to 40 seconds. I prepped my tee by going over it with a lint roller to remove any loose fibers and I lightly pressed out the wrinkles. I then placed 1 out of the 2 included parchment papers inside of the shirt to make sure the ink did not bleed. Next, I laid my transfer onto the center of the shirt and placed the second piece of parchment paper on top of the transfer. Lightly pressing down, I pressed the transfer onto the tee with the Easypress for 40 seconds and peeled the transfer paper away from the shirt while hot. The result was a clean and vibrant transfer of ink!

Kiki and I are SO happy with how this project turned out and I intend on making us BOTH more tees using Cricut’s infusible inks. I hope this project inspired you to get creative for Black History Month. Also, let this be your reminder that you don’t have to rush to complete a bucket list of things just because it is Black History Month. It’s never too late to brush up on Black History or do more to support your black brothers and sisters. Start now, pace yourself, and continue year-round, friends.

P.S. Brown Girl Power shirt can be purchased in a multitude of variations here, in my shop.