Do you like making personalized gifts for family and friends? Do you ever think about going into business for yourself? If you are creative person and enjoy making gifts for loved ones, read on.
I recently purchased a heat press to gift the people in my life with something they could treasure for a long time. A handmade gift always tugs at the heartstrings. It makes the statement that the receiver is important enough to the giver to spend valuable time making a gift they hope will be loved.
What types of gifts can be made using a heat press?
Is someone you know having a baby soon? Will a birthday or anniversary celebration be coming up?
Consider these ideas.
- Baby bags, tote bags, cosmetic bags, handbags
- Wooden plaques or farmhouse-type signs
- Pillowcases — either for the bedroom or a throw pillow for the living room
- Mugs and cups
- Clothing items — T-shirts, sweatshirts, children’s and baby clothes
- And much more….
Custom-made Baby Onesies
I have started a tradition. Whenever someone I know has a baby, they get a custom baby onesie. I just purchase plain baby onesies in bulk and have them on hand for when they are needed.
DIY Cushions, Throw Pillows and Pillowcases
Create your own cushions and throw pillows. No longer are you limited by what you can find in the stores or online. If you enjoy theme decorating and have difficulty locating just the right pillow or cushion, make your own with a heat press.
Decorating a nursery becomes much easier when using a heat press. Anyone would love to get a handmade baby gift like this. Who knows, it could become an heirloom to be handed down to future generations.
It is very easy to find blank pillowcases in all sizes, shapes, and colors.
Personalized Tank Tops and T-Shirts
I have made dozens of t-shirts with my heat press for gifts for friends and family. They look terrific when done and are very easy to make. It can be more complicated when working with different colors, but the finished product is worth the effort.
Custom Coasters
These would make a great shower or wedding gift. Using sublimation transfer and heat, they can be applied to ceramic coasters. It is a great way to give a personalized gift to a bride and groom.
Slice Tool Project
You can use different tools and features available with your cutting machine, which is a separate purchase from the heat press. A slice tool means you can cut one design element out of another. For example, cut a name into a heart design.
Layered Heat Transfer Vinyl
This is a terrific way to make a unique t-shirt. Layering vinyl adds more dimension and complexity to a design, making it look so much neater. It will impress the person who receives it.
Tote Bags
Totes are a great gift idea you can make with a press. Another idea for a baby or wedding shower, personalize the tote and fill it with appropriate things for a baby or a new bride. I guarantee it will be a hit.
Banners
You can press on all different sorts of materials, including cork. Heat transfer vinyl allows the vinyl to adhere better to the material. Adhesive vinyl works too, but heat transfer vinyl lasts longer and won’t curl around the edges.
Personalized Mugs
You cannot go wrong when gifting a personalized mug. They make the perfect Christmas, birthday, or any occasion gift. A mug would also be a terrific gift for a bride and groom.
Now that you have ideas of what to make with a heat press, let’s discuss the machine itself.
The MPress Heat Press Transfer Machine 15″ x 15″
It is durable, easy to use, and makes it simple for you to create the perfect gift or start a new business!
It is an entry-level machine allowing you to transfer your own printed images with heat transfer paper, your own vinyl heat transfer, and your rhinestone transfer. With this press, you can customize anything — mousepads, ceramic tiles, coasters, linens, clothing, anything you want.
The heat press works great in commercial and domestic settings both and can perform any size job with durability. The “strong handle” design allows for sturdy and easy operation. When pressed down, it has industrial strength, pressure, and even temperature to the surface, which guarantees the transfer to remain on the garment for a long time.
It not only is easy to operate but offers professional results. Any gift you make using the press will make a lasting impression.
Here are some features of the heat press.
- Heat plate with non-stick coating prevents scorching or burn marks and offers even pressure.
- Consistent temperature guaranteed with a sturdy heating board equipped with a range of heat coils.
- Easy to operate, with an open and close “strong handle” with a spring-loaded assist.
- Adjustable pressure knob, full range.
- Time control and digital temperature.
- Heat-resistant silicone pad, able to handle high temperatures.
Specifications of the heat press:
- Heat Platen Size: 15″ X 15″ with a Non-Stick Coated Heat Platen
- Heat Press Style: Clamshell shape
- Temperature Range: From 0 to 400 °F
- Time Control: From 0-999 Second
- Power: 1400 Watts
- Voltage: 110V, standard US and Canada
- Shipping Weight: 64 pounds
Forever Digital Transfer Applications Technology
You can now produce self-weeding transfers in metallic, white, or neon colors without a special toner or cutting and weeding. With the new and innovative material, weeding of the flex foils is no longer needed. This system offers the chance of fast production cost-effectively without the need for an expensive plotter or printing system.
Features:
- No weeding or cutting
- Low substrate application temperatures of 212 °F-320 °F or 100-160 °C
- Allows printing on almost all fabrics & hard surfaces, such as nylon, polyester, cotton, blended fabrics, paper, wood, polypropylene.
- Not compatible with Samsung/Xerox laser printers, but perfect for desktop black/white or CMYK, Laser/LED Printers.
- Washable up to 40 °C or 104 °F
- Complex graphics and fine details transferable without problems
- Beneficial time savings
- Impressive design and motive possibilities, such as vintage, used look, fashion, vectors, etc.
- It is available in two sizes, 11” x 17” and 8.5″x 11″
If you enjoy the creative arts and love giving thoughtful and imaginative gifts, perhaps a heat press is an item for you to try. This would also be an excellent idea for families to create gifts for grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other important people in their lives.
Hey Taylor,
I love t-shirts. As a child, I enjoyed getting shirts custom-made or designed at flea markets or at local shops. I never paid attention to the process of making shirts, but was always intrigued. After reading your post, I never thought about all the extra things you could do with a heat press. I could definitely see myself purchasing one of these and creating my own shirts, banners, tote bags, or custom coasters. If I ever think about creating my own specialty design company, I’ll refer back to this informative post.
I have been on the fence trying to decide whether or not a mug press would be worth the investment for a custom cup business. I am glad that I’ve waited for so long because I had no idea that there were was an all in one heat press. My husband and I have been discussing using his artwork for a business and we thought we would have to pay someone else to make the print the art on to various types of products, but thanks to your post, we now know we can do it by ourselves. What’s even more is that there are so many items we can make. I never would have considered custom coasters, banners, or mouse pads. This would elevate gift giving, especially with having my second child and grandparents that are constantly in search of ways to display pictures. I’m glad that the process is simple and I can’t wait to get my hands on a heat press machine.
Personalized gifts are the best types of gifts to receive! Who doesn’t love something that has thought behind it? I know I would prefer that over a gift card or something expensive with no meaning. I recently purchased a heat press and a Cricut after seeing my cousin go into a t-shirt business. I don’t mind the weeding after pulling out the design because I usually don’t print anything too complex or complicated. I would recommend it to anyone who is wanting to go into business designing clothes or anyone who wants a fun hobby that will make others smile!
What an amazing idea. I have never thought of buying a heat press and never heard of them before. I love making personalized gifts, and on birthdays and holidays, I do this. I never thought of it as a way to make money only because the only time I buy shirts with prints is when I am getting one on a trip or something. I do love decorative cups though, I collect coffee cups, and every time a friend or family member goes somewhere and sees one I might like, they bring it back for me. I would have so much fun making them myself. This may be something I should do more research on and get with others to see what they think of it. If nothing else, it could become a fun hobby.
I would love to have one of these. There are so many T-shirts that I would love to make to promote our company name and brand that its not even funny! We have thought about going with an online company to market something, we just tend to like to do everything hands on in our business so we would love to do it ourselves.
When I was working in a corporate setting our department was in charge of ordering corporate giveaways from different suppliers. I must tell you that it costs us a lot of money to purchase all the items that we have on the list. The sad thing is that a lot of them are either torn or broken by the time it arrived in our office. Its a good thing that one of my friends told me why not consider buying a heat press machine and create our own personalized designs.
My boss was very hesitant at first due to budget constraints but I presented to him the benefits of owning a heat press machine. What I like most about the product is that it allows us to be more creative and unique with our designs and at the same time we are assured that all corporate gift items are in excellent quality that our clients will definitely appreciate.
Hey, Taylor,
When I was in Australia, the family I stayed with owned their own t-shirt press. They had a band and found it more convenient to make their own t-shirts than to have them made. It worked well for them considering they lived out in the Bush where it was difficult to have items shipped. I didn’t realize there were so many applications for a heat press. I really only thought about t-shirts, and definitely did not consider the non-fabric options for this. For rural locations or anyone with a business, I could see the financial advantage to making these goods on site rather than outsourcing.
Every small business owner needs a T-shirt press. Coming up with good print ideas is easy and fun to do. T-shirts are excellent marketing tools because who can’t resist a clever T-shirt? How valuable is a walking billboard to your marketing campaign? My company designed T-shirts and printed our own designs to sale at an event several years ago. It is not common for people to hang on to T-shirts for years to come. For this reason, make sure to invest your time in creating timeless designs that people want to wear for years to come.
When my husband and I announced we were pregnant, I wanted a very specific onesie for the pictures, so I bought some iron-on transfer paper that you could print and transfer the logo. The end product was great, but making it was such a pain. This heat press looks exponentially more efficient, not to mention fool-proof (I had to toss the first goof-up onesie I made).
One of the moms in our neighborhood has a heat press well, and it gets used so much for baby and bridal showers, kids sports team jerseys, and numerous school projects. I would say these heat presses are a good investment for any family.
I bought this heat press for my company. I’ve only had it for a brief time and have been using it to make projects on and off. So far, this press has met my needs.
I’m not sure how many T-shirt ideas I’ve had up to this point. I always wanted one to go along with a new website idea and it was usually one of the first things I thought of creating when starting something new. To be honest, I don’t know if I trust some of these companies online to make the shirts for you. I’m always concerned about what the quality is going to be. At least this way I get to purchase my own shirts and know what kind of material I am getting. Plus, if I screw something up, its on me! I’ll have to look into this more.
I’ve always loved custom stuff, especially as someone who’s name never appears in a gift shop. I honestly though heat presses were just for shirts, I had no idea you could make so much. I’m one of those people who’s always looking to try new things so I bet I would have some fun with a heat press, though I doubt currently I could afford one. For now I think I’ll have to stick with my mini Circuit! It definitely would be great to have access to a tool where I could make high quaintly personalized gifts, because there’s nothing like one of a kind.