How to Make Rub-on Decals

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By eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating: (27 Ratings)

Rub-on decals can provide beautiful results on craft projects, scrapbook pages or any sort of other household item. Rub-on decals can be produced simply at home on your computer with only a few supplies. Making the rub-ons at home will make sure that you get the exact decals that you want, plus save you some money at the craft store.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Computer
Printer
Image software
Transparency film
Spray hair gel
Spoon

Step 1

Open a word processing, desktop publishing or graphics program that allows you to create or insert images and print them.
Step 2

Create a design within your software or go online and find an image that you would like to make into a decal.
Step 3

Use your software program to create a mirror image of the image or images you wish to print out and make into decals. This will reverse the images when you print them, making your decals face the right direction when they are applied.
Step 4

Take a sheet of transparency film and spray it with a fine mist of hair gel. Cover the entire sheet and allow it to dry completely before moving on to the next step.
Step 5

Insert the transparency film into your printer and print the images onto the glossy side of the transparency film.
Step 6

Allow the ink to dry on the transparency film until it is dry to the touch. This should take 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 7

Use the rub-on decal to decorate your craft projects or household items by putting the image down on the surface of the item and using the back of a spoon to run the decal onto the surface.

Comments

cskibski said

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on 9/17/2009 Instead of Spray gel could you use a spray mount product? or do you think that would be too sticky and not dry? Also DreamsInBloom you mention printing on the glossy side... if you do that can you skip the spray gel? I can't wait to try this!

DreamsInBloom said

on 2/9/2009 To boupen, look for a product that says it is hair spray gel (it's like hair gel, but in a spray). And you cover the sheet with the hair spray gel. "Cover the entire sheet [with the hair gel spray] and allow it to dry completely before moving on to the next step."

on 2/9/2009 This article says to print on the glossy side of the transparency. If you've sprayed hair gel on the transparency you want to print on the side covered with the hair gel...otherwise, what was the point of spraying on the gel? However, there is another method where you don't use the hair gel spray and you just print on the glossy side. I think the person who wrote this article got the two methods mixed up.