Cactus Pom Pom Sweatshirt DIY (With Printable!)

Novelty items are not necessarily the only thing that make life worth living, but they sure do make it more fun now, don’t they?! I’ve seen a couple of items recently that have a print or an image of something with poms or mini fur balls as an accent, and I thought that technique would work really well with a cactus image and some “flowers” on the cactus up top. To make it super easy for you guys, we partnered with our friends at Canon USA and made you a cute cactus printable so you can make your own cactus creation right at home!Supplies:
–plain sweatshirt 
–iron-on transfer paper
–small colored pom poms
-iron
-scissors
-needle and thread or fabric glue
-printer (Mine is the Canon PIXMA TS8120)
–cactus download

Download your cactus printable (we have it in two colors so you can choose which one you like!) and then print one onto iron-on transfer paper. I used my Canon PIXMA TS8120 for this project. One of my favorite features of this printer is that I can use a variety of different types of papers for projects like this and the printing quality is always amazing. The colors really pop, which is exactly what I want for my sweatshirt! Cut out your cactus with scissors leaving a bit of a white border around the edge.Follow the instructions that came with the iron-on paper to use your iron to attach your cactus detail to the sweatshirt. Allow the decal to totally cool before peeling away the top layer to reveal your cactus underneath. Arrange your pom flowers on top of your decal so you have them placed right where you want them to be. I would suggest placing the middles of the poms just to the side of the decal so you aren’t piercing a hole into the decal when you sew the poms on. Use a needle and thread to attach each pom to the sweatshirt (you can use fabric glue, but it may not hold up as well as sewing it on) and stand back and admire your work!The perfect sweatshirt for the plant lady in all of us! You don’t necessarily have to pose with your cacti like a big plant dork as I did, but hey, it doesn’t hurt! Unless you fall into the cactus … then it will. I would follow the iron-on paper instructions for washing (most will let you machine wash on cold) and the poms should keep their shape well through the washing process. This would also be super cute on the back of a jacket as well as a pillow, so don’t feel like you have to only keep it to a sweatshirt if you want to branch out. Hope you have as much fun making this as I did! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Graphic Design by Mara Dockery.