Newsflash you guys: Chelsea loves sparkles. Not like a whole lot, but enough to tell people that I sweat glitter.
Another Newsflash: Captain obvious called and you’re taking his job.

Okay okay, so for the last month or so I’ve been purging. I’ve gotten rid of clothes, craft supplies, craft projects, boxes, bins, more craft supplies, and even some sheets. Yes friends I am feeling the purge. Okay, but really. I found this grey sweater/duster thing and while it’s perfect for the weather and oh so cozy it is not perfect for my current style, which includes bright colors and glitter. Do you have a piece that just isn’t YOU anymore that you’re not ready to get rid of? To rectify this I got out my trusty DIY skills and some glitter and breathed new life into what would be an otherwise boring sweater. It’s super easy to do and I’ll show you how to create or upcycle your own DIY Glitter Heart Elbow Patch Sweater.

DIY Glitter Heart Elbow Patch Sweater
Time: 5-15 minutes
Cost: $8 – I already had the sweater
Cuteness level: +5

What you’ll need
Sweater I had mine on hand but you can get one like it from Amazon
Iron on glitter paper
Iron – this is the one I have
Piece of scrap fabric
Marker
Scissors
Heart cookie cutter or stencil (optional)
Chalk

Begin by putting the sweater on yourself and marking where your elbows are with chalk. Take it off and set aside.

I free hand drew a heart on a piece of paper to make sure I had the right size for the patches I wanted then cut it out to use as a stencil. If you’re not thrilled with the idea of having to draw hearts (mine used to turn out super wonky so I get it) you can use a heart cookie cutter or stencil or even a print out as your guide.

Once you’ve got the heart shape and size you’d like, trace it onto the Iron on glitter transfer sheets with a marker. Make sure you give a bit of space between the stencil and the line so that you have room to cut away from the marker line. Basically you don’t want the marker to be anywhere on the patch you’re going on iron on.

Once you’ve got 2 patches that you like its time to iron those suckers on. I was a little worried about the texture of my sweater and the transfer, but it turned out great and it hasn’t peeled on me yet.  Dust the chalk bit off from the elbow, lay the transfer rough side up. Cover the transfer with a scrap of cloth to create a barrier. I ended up using some cheese cloth left over from my DIY Tea Bags.

Set the iron to the high and slowly move it around the fabric covered patch for 40 seconds. I had a travel iron so I’m not sure how much higher a real iron would go so please keep in mind that all irons are different . Since my patch was bigger than the iron I did it in sections to make sure everything was good and secured.

Slowly peel the fabric off of the glitter patch and repeat for the other elbow. Allow to fully cool and your DIY Glitter Heart Elbow Patch Sweater is ready to wear! Its amazing what a simple glitter patch can do to one of your favorite clothing items! *** Hand wash please!