Make a “Lake Hair Don’t Care” T-shirt in 6 Easy Steps
This DIY “Lake Hair Don’t Care” t-shirt is sure to be a summer wardrobe staple for kids and adults alike! Today’s post contains a complete step-by-step Cricut tutorial for recreating this classic summer shirt. This text screamed RED, WHITE and BLUE to me, but it would look so cute with other colors too!
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Here’s a little secret about my childhood…I had “lake hair” and I sure as heck didn’t care!
Looking back, it is safe to say I would have been considered a “free range” child. My parents were not the type to hover about and gave my sister and me every opportunity to explore, climb trees, and build secret clubhouses.
Of course we had rules (my mom was a teacher for heaven’s sake), but we were allowed to roam during the summers we spent at our little cabin at the lake. My mom is not a “girly-girl” by any means and doesn’t fuss over things like hair and makeup. Growing up as a tomboy, I was thankful for that! The drawback to the stance my mom took? I ended up with a mullet for a few years. There. I said it. The secret is out.
My excuse for the terrible hair I had as a child is that it was the 80’s, and I lived in a small Midwestern town. And, at the time, it was functional. I didn’t have to wipe the hair from my eyes as I played. It was all business in the front after all!
So when a friend of mine asked me to make this custom “Lake Hair Don’t Care” t-shirt as a gift for her friend’s daughter, I immediately grew nostalgic. Where was this t-shirt when I was a child? I would have rocked it with my oversized Umbro shorts and wind-blown mullet for sure!
To customize this gift, I hunted around the internet for the perfect fishing pole svg file (fishing happens to be her daddy’s favorite pass time) and picked-up my favorite sparkly white htv vinyl at Hobby Lobby. Even if this little girl didn’t give two figs about her hair, she could still have some flare!
Make this “Lake Hair Don’t Care” t-shirt with me!
Follow along below with the step-by-step Cricut tutorial to make your own “Lake Hair Don’t Care” t-shirt. This process is so easy, you’ll have these shirts mocked-up in no time. While you are at it, follow the same steps outlined here and here to make these equally-adorable t-shirts too. Or click on any of the images below:
Step 1: Gather your supplies for your “Lake Hair Don’t Care” t-shirt
- Blank t-shirt (I used this royal blue one from Hobby Lobby)
- Hobby Lobby’s Paper Studio Brand white glitter heat transfer vinyl (or your favorite heat transfer vinyl)
- Light box (optional)
- Cricut EasyPress (or a standard iron)
- Cricut Explore Air 2 and cutting mat
- Weeding tools
- Cricut EasyPress Mat (or thick towel)
- Additional fonts* (See Step 2)
- Fishing pole svg (See Step 3)
Grab the exact supplies I used at Amazon.com:
Step 2: Download the fonts & upload them to your Cricut Design Space
I used two fonts (“Magnolia Sky” and “Luna“) this project. Neither are standard fonts in Cricut Design Space, but you can get them for free from dafont.com and upload both to Design Space.
*Always double-check the licensing for the fonts you download. I am using these fonts for personal use and will not be selling these shirts for profit. However, there are plenty of completely free fonts on dafont.com.
Download directions:
- Go to Dafont.com and search for the font names or click on the links above. Next, click on the gray “download” button to the right of the fonts.
- Once the zip files have downloaded to your computer, open the files and double-click on the TrueType font file to open it.
- Then hit the “install” button at the top of the document.
- Once the install is complete, open Cricut Design Space and select your new fonts from the font drop-down menu. (If you are already working in Design Space, you’ll want to refresh it or log out and back in so you can see the new font selection).
Step 3: Purchase & download the fishing pole image & upload it to Cricut Design Space
I am told that the little girl who will be wearing this shirt this summer has a dad who loves to fish. Again, nostalgia hit. I saw this fishing pole svg bundle from FreshCutsStudio on Etsy and just knew I needed to include it on the shirt somehow.
To add it to your shirt, you’ll want to:
- Go to onlinewebfonts.com and download the svg to your computer.
- Open Cricut Design Space and in a New Project, click on the “Upload” button on the left sidebar.
- Click on the “Upload Image” button and then the “Browse” button to navigate to where you’ve saved your image.
- Double click on the file
- Add an image name and tags and click “Save.”
- Now your image will be saved to Recently Uploaded Images under the Upload tab.
- Click on your image and hit the “Insert Images” button, which will take you back to your canvas for further manipulation.
Step 4: Adjust the sizing of the graphic and add your text
Once you have both the graphic and text uploaded to Design Space, play around with the sizing until you are satisfied with the overall look.
I wanted the text to overlap slightly, so once I was happy with the overall layout, I “Attached” the text together so my Cricut Explore Air2 would cut the entire decal out of one piece of white glitter vinyl. I did this by rubber band selecting all of the text and hitting the “Attach” button on the Layers tab.
Step 5: Cut & weed your vinyl
Make sure your Cricut is set to “Heat Transfer” and each image has “mirror” selected.
Once the decal is cut, remove it from your cutting mat and weed the excess vinyl leaving only the mirrored vinyl on the plastic vinyl sheet.
Step 6: Iron/transfer the decal
Place a thick towel or your Cricut EasyPress Mat on a sturdy work surface, and preheat your iron or Cricut EasyPress to 315 degrees. Transfer away! (For this particular vinyl from the Paper Studio, you’ll want to let it cool before removing the plastic backing).
When I was making this summer shirt, I knew I wanted it to be red, white and blue. But there are countless color combinations you could do! I’d love to see what you come up with! What colors would you chose for this project? Let me know in the comments below!
More later! The craft room is calling, and I must go…
Other t-shirt projects you may like:
