Quick Craft: Retro Epcot Holographic Tee

You might remember seeing something shiny on my Instagram a few weeks back:

Something SPARKLY this way comes... Anyone recognize the symbol? 💡💜#sneakpeek #holographic #sparkly #imagination

A post shared by Jen Yates (@epbot) on Apr 27, 2017 at 11:40pm PDT

And you hardcore Dizgeeks might even recognize it! If not, I'll give you a hint:

And now that I've only confused most of your further... those are the old Epcot symbols used for the different areas of the park back in the day. The one I used was for the Imagination area, where the ride with Dreamfinder and Figment used to be. (And technically still is, if you acknowledge the current iteration of Journey Into Imagination. :D)

As a happy coincidence, that's also the easiest symbol to cut into a template. SCORE.

I decided to make a holographic t-shirt for Dapper Day, since I didn't plan on being all that dapper. Instead, I went for a retro Epcot vibe with metallic silver sneakers, a metallic silver skirt, and this bad boy:

You definitely couldn't lose me in the crowd.

This is a super easy quick craft, but I do have a few tips to make it easier. And keep in mind, you can make ANY shape out of this holographic film, so start brainstorming now!

First, you'll need these metallic iron-on sheets from the craft store:

John found ours at JoAnn's, and with their coupon got the whole pack for less than $10. (They also come in individual sheets, but I wanted the rainbow holo which only came in the 4-pack.)

You'll also need a blank shirt/skirt/bag to iron on to, and of course an iron.

First find and print out the symbol you want:

I found a 6-inch square to be a good size for my shirt, if that helps.

Cut it out to form a template, then flip the template over and tape it to the back side of the foil:

The back side is the one with the glue texture.

Now trace that with a regular ball-point pen:

Again, remember to flip your template over on the foil, so things like wording or directional marks face the right way when you're done. VERY important.)

Ok, next slightly tricky part: cutting.

The foil is literally blinding if you have a light source overhead, so in order to see where I was cutting I had to fold the foil over like this to shade my cut lines. Fortunately the glue makes it very easy to cut, though; gives it just the right amount of grip for your blade to glide through. (Scissors work, too.)

And that's the hard part done! Now position your iron-on where you want it on your shirt, place a cloth over it, and iron in place.

 DONE.

Because the foil is essentially a thin plastic, I wouldn't recommend huge patches of it over the tracts of land, ladies. Only because it's stiffer than fabric, and may fall in a weird way. Fortunately mine had the inner cut-outs, though, so it lays just fine:

 

Also, you may notice cutting the foil with a craft blade puckers the edges a little, but don't worry. Those puckers iron out, giving it an almost perfectly smooth edge:

 It's  hard to capture the glittery goodness on film, but this is the closest to how it looks in real life.

(I've washed mine twice now, btw, and the foil holds up like a champ!)

And finally, since I know you're wondering just how ridiculous I looked in my metallic skirt and shoes:

 About this ridiculous. :D

(I got the skirt on Amazon for $10, and not gonna lie: kiiiinda loving it. Plus it comes in fun colors!)

I'd love to do more with this holographic film: so many geeky possibilities! How about a Rebel logo, or the Bat symbol? Outline of the TARDIS? Or there's all the *other* retro symbols from Epcot. 

Hmm, what else? Help me brainstorm!

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Want more? Then be sure to check out my Craft Page to see ALL of my tutorials and projects in one place!