How to Make Sublimation Ornaments Ceramic Blanks DIY

Learn how easy it is to make ceramic sublimation ornaments, perfect for Christmas in July or holiday gift giving!

Custom ceramic ornaments are high quality and give such a personal touch to holiday decorating. 

Learn all about sublimation ornament blanks and other sublimation projects in this tutorial, let's get started!

DON'T GET OVERWHELMED DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON

If you often feel overwhelmed during the holiday season, you are probably trying to do too much with not enough time for everything.

Christmas in July is the perfect way to get ready early for the holidays and not letting yourself get over worked in December.

Begin your holiday decorating and handmade gift giving today with sublimation Christmas ornaments.

I began my venture of acrylic painting last September, so I'm nearly at a year and have 88 completed paintings.

I decided I wanted to turn my art into little keepsakes for my family, and sublimation ornaments are perfect because there's always room for one more ornament on the Christmas tree...and you don't have to have them out year round.

They are small and easy to gift.

They make the perfect little gift tags too!

DIY SUBLIMATION ORNAMENTS

These sublimation blank ornaments are from Heat Press Nation.

They have the best sublimation blanks in BULK, they have high quality blanks in various materials, including puzzles, ornaments, clocks, plaques, plates, tumblers, tiles, magnets and more!

If you are buying a bunch for holiday gifts, this is the place to buy them.

I'm using 3" Circle Ceramic Ornaments and 3" Square Ceramic Ornaments and they have lots of different shapes too!

SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR SUBLIMATION ORNAMENTS:

affiliate links for the following materials

• 3" Square Ceramic Ornaments
• 3" Circle Ceramic Ornaments
• Sublimation Printer
• Heat Press
• Sublimation Paper
• Heat-Resistant Tape
• Lint Roller or Lint-free Cloth
• Sublimation Ink
• Heat-Resistant Gloves
• Pressing Mat
• Heat Resistant Tape Dispenser (optional but super nice)
• Piece of Butcher Paper, Parchment or Teflon
• Image for Printing (check out Creative Fabrica for beautiful designs)

If you don't have a sublimation printer or access to a printed design, you can use infusible ink transfer sheets for infusible ink ornaments!

STEP 1: SUBLIMATION PRINT

Begin by printing your image (in reverse) on sublimation paper.

I use adobe photoshop 7 to edit my image size and reverse it before printing, I can also adjust the printer settings in the software so that the print will be high quality and exactly to scale.

Print the image on a sublimation printer or an inkjet printer converted to sublimation, I always select "high quality print" and "do not scale to fit printer".

They will NOT be vibrant prints.

Sublimation prints look dull and muted colors...no worries though, they will come alive in the heat source process.

STEP 2: CERAMIC ORNAMENT PREP

Now take a lint roller or lint-free cloth and clean off the ornament face so it is free of all debris and dust.

STEP 3: HEAT RESISTANT TAPE

Now use heat-resistant tape to completely adhere the porcelain ornament to the sublimation sheet.

I find that adhering the ornament to the paper ensures a better transfer of the edges rather than cutting the image to fit the ornament.

Again, for best results, be sure to cover every edge to make sure the transfer is crisp.

STEP 4: HEAT PRESS

Now work on a flat surface, then place a teflon sheet, a piece of parchment or butcher paper on top of the heat press pad.

Then place the sublimation ornament with the sublimation paper side up on top of the butcher paper.

Now place a second protective paper on top of the ornament's surface.

Set the heat press to the manufacturer’s recommendations for the ornament, the recommended time is typically between 2-4 minutes.

I am doing 400*F for 190 seconds.

HEAT PRESS TIMES AND SETTINGS FOR CERAMIC ORNAMENT:

SET THE HEAT PRESS TO 400*F

SET THE TIMER TO 190 SECONDS

Press the ornament for the full time with medium pressure.

No need to really stand on it...and you don't want to crack the ornaments either.

Just hold firmly for the next couple minutes.

Then remove from the heat pad and let it sit until it's completely cool on a heat resistant mat.

STEP 5: REVEAL THE SUBLIMATION DESIGN

Now that the ornaments are cooled completely, peel of the heat resistant tape and reveal your gorgeous ornaments!

They are glossy, vibrant and look like really high quality glass ornaments with a custom design.

Now add ribbon, ornament hangers or string to hang up the ornament on the Christmas tree.

Wrap it up as a gift for special occasions that need a handmade gift.

I chose my paintings, but you can make photo ornament gifts too!

It's awesome what having a sublimation printer gives you access too!

Take a closer look at the simple techniques for these ceramic ornaments...they are vivid, vibrant and colorful!

Get making handmade holiday gifts right now to give yourself a break in the busy rush of the holidays season.

Trust me, your future self will be glad you did!

That's it!

Making sublimation ceramic ornaments is a great handmade gift idea and perfect to do months before the holiday rush is here.

Add a personal touch to a gift is a great way to show how much you care.

The sublimation process is easy and just requires the set up and then a few sublimation blanks to get started.

An investment if it's your first time, but it will continue to pay for itself every time you make a handmade gift--or start that small business you've been thinking about!

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Check out these other fun ornament posts for more holiday tree decorating:

Laser Cut Gnome Macrame Ornaments

Make laser cut ornaments and add some loops of macrame cord for the perfect gnome beards.

click picture for instagram reel video

Alcohol Ink on Acrylic Ornaments with Metallic Gold Paint

Make gorgeous ornaments by splashing alcohol inks on an acrylic ornament cut out and then use a mini heat gun to dry and shape the ink.

Then paint some metallic gold leaves on the ornaments with metallic gold craft paint.

Tie them off with gold ribbon and hang on your Christmas tree!

click picture for instagram reel video

Gingerbread House Acrylic Ornament DIY

Paint with white paint marker on a brown acrylic ornament for the perfect gingerbread house-like ornament!

click picture for instagram reel video

How to Make UV Resin Ornaments DIY with Lightwish Glitter

Learn how easy it is to make stunning glitter ornaments using Lightwish Glitter UV Resin.

It has a subtle color tint and tiny sparkles of glitter that make the perfect resin base for jewelry, small trinkets and ornament DIY.

I love working with UV resin because the resin craft projects are done in minutes instead of days.
Let's get started!

Plus, check out the full post on:

How to do Sublimation Crafts!

Sublimation crafts are so much fun!

Personalization is the name of the crafting game and sublimation is the way to do it.

Have you jumped on the sublimation craze yet? 

Here's all the tools, supplies and machines you need in order to do sublimation crafts!

What do you need to have in order to do sublimation crafting?

Sublimation crafts are all the rage.

Everything from tumblers, totes, shirts and more!

Sublimation is super appealing because it is absolutely seamless, waterproof, and lasts so long!

I'm going to answer all your sublimation questions in this post!

Maybe you are interested in started a Sublimation Business!?

This will give you lots of great ideas, blanks and resources for that too!

What is SUBLIMATION?

Sublimation is the process of changing the ink from a solid state to a gas state without going through a water phase. The special ink dyes turn to gas and fusing seamlessly into the sublimation coated blank surface.

Sublimation does not work on black blanks.

Sublimation works best on high polyester content fabric (at least 50% but the color will be less vibrant with less polyester).

Sublimation blanks are specially coated surfaces that are prepped to take the gas fusing. 

What are Sublimation Transfers?

Sublimation transfers involve printing a design onto special paper using sublimation inks.

The design is then transferred to a substrate, like fabric or ceramics, using heat, creating vibrant, durable, and detailed prints.

Supplies needed for Sublimation crafting:

1. You need to be able to print the special ink on sublimation paper. (or you can buy pre-printed sublimation prints or use Cricut Infusible Ink Transfers)
2. You need to be able to heat press the sublimation paper onto a blank. (Either a hand held press, auto press, manual press, sublimation oven or tumbler press--typically needs to reach 390-400*F.)
3. You need blanks. (mugs, tumblers, flags, bags, banners, totes, shirts, keychains...you name it!)
4. You need accessories. (heat resistant tape, heat resistant gloves, heat gun, shrink wrap sleeves, etc)

What Type of Printer Do I Need for Sublimation?:

A specific printer is required for sublimation printing. 

It uses special sublimation ink...so you can take an Ecotank printer and only install sublimation ink.

Or you can buy an actual sublimation printer.

NOTE: Sublimation printers need to be plugged in all the time and used at least once a week (I do mine 3-6X's a week at least one picture) or they will get clogged.

My first sublimation printer clogged and broke, I literally used it 4 times and had to throw it away.

So, print very, very regularly.

NOTE 2: Sublimation prints should be reversed, then when you place the ink on the blank it will sublimate in the correct direction.

What is the Cheapest Sublimation Printer?

Here's some great printer options:

• Epson Ecotank Printer Converted to Sublimation (8.5x11 paper, this is what I am using--and it's about the cheapest)
• Sawgrass SG500 Printer (8.5x11 sheets of paper)
• Sawgrass SG1000 Printer (11x17 sheets of paper)