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“Keep Calm” T-Shirt Gift for Teachers with FREE Cut File

"Keep Calm & Always Return My Pencils": Creative T-Shirt Gift Idea for Teachers. Step by step tutorial includes tips n' tricks for working with heat transfer vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

Apparently, lending out pencils as a teacher is akin to giving them away.  Because the second one of my students left the threshold of my classroom with a pencil in hand, I was essentially saying farewell to that writing utensil forever.  Au revoir.  Adios.  Have a nice life.  Teachers in the house, can I witness?

When I taught freshman English in Ohio, the disappearing-pencil-problem was a serious one.  Initially, I refused to lend out pencils and simply deducted points if students were unprepared…but it ended up taking too much valuable class time to track.  So, then I had a little collection of pencils students could sign out.  Well, within one week’s time, nearly half of my pencil collection had been depleted.  They had just “mysteriously” walked off.  Until…I made my plain pencils, flower pencils.

Place flowers on the ends of pencils to mark them as "yours" and ensure you'll get them back at the end of class. A tried and true method!

I bought a bunch of faux flowers and duct taped them onto pencils (so they wouldn’t easily walk off).  And thus, my disappearing pencil problem…well…disappeared.  And my teacher pet peeve no longer plagued me on a daily basis.

If there are teachers out there who can relate to this saga (or parents who sympathize), well, then do I have a t-shirt project for you:

"Keep Calm & Always Return My Pencils": Creative T-Shirt Gift Idea for Teachers. Step by step tutorial includes tips n' tricks for working with heat transfer vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

Free Cut File

This “KEEP CALM” meme was one I came across in my perusal on Pinterest; I resonated with it so very much, I knew I needed to bust out my Silhouette machine and turn it into a t-shirt.  I just used the Arial font to type out my text in the classic KEEP CALM form in my Silhouette Studio software, replacing the crown at the top with an apple I created from a few different free clip art files.

To make your job easy-peazy, I’m offering up my Silhouette cut file for FREE DOWNLOAD to all newsletter subscribers. You can sign up to download your free cut file using the nifty form below or by clicking HERE. {Fine print: this design is for personal use only and is not to be used for commercial purposes. Thanks!}

"Keep Calm & Always Return My Pencils" FREE Cut File available for download at thinkingcloset.com. Tips n' tricks on using heat transfer vinyl to boot!

“KEEP CALM” T-Shirt Gift for Teachers

Here’s the how-to…and keep in mind, this doesn’t just apply for those who have never worked with heat transfer vinyl before…I’ve worked with it a ton and yet I still made mistakes along the way I hope you can learn from!

  • Do NOT forget to flip your design horizontally before cutting.  It should look like the mirror image.  No one wants to waste perfectly good HTV.
  • Feed your HTV into the machine (or stick it to the mat) shiny side DOWN.  The shiny side is actually a plastic film that will peel away after ironing.  You don’t want to cut through that!

Tips n' tricks for working with Heat Transfer Vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

  • Always-always-always do a test cut before sending your design to your machine.  Your design should peel away from the sheet with ease and not require any tugging; this is where I ran into trouble this time around.  I probably needed a double-cut because the weeding process took my triple the time it normally does!
  • Look back at your original design to make sure you weeded away everything you wanted (I forgot the little shine on my apple…which I had to carefully peel up AFTER ironing…not recommended!).

to weed: (verb) to peel away the unwanted parts of your design, often using a hook tool.

Tips n' tricks for working with Heat Transfer Vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

  • Pre-warm your pre-washed garment with a dry iron before placing your HTV pieces on it.
  • I like to use a ruler to make sure my design is properly centered.

"Keep Calm & Always Return My Pencils" T-Shirt Gift for Teachers with tips n' tricks for working with Heat Transfer Vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

  • Place a thin cotton cloth or piece of parchment paper in between your iron and the onesie.
  • Apply good solid PRESSURE when pressing your garment with your iron, approximately 20 seconds per section.

"Keep Calm & Always Return My Pencils" T-Shirt Gift for Teachers with tips n' tricks for working with Heat Transfer Vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

  • The plastic film should peel away with ease when the HTV is properly applied.  If not, allow it to cool 30 seconds and re-press.

"Keep Calm & Always Return My Pencils" T-Shirt Gift for Teachers with tips n' tricks for working with Heat Transfer Vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

  • Be sure to turn your garment inside out and press the back-side, as well.

"Keep Calm & Always Return My Pencils" T-Shirt Gift for Teachers with tips n' tricks for working with Heat Transfer Vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

  • Washing instructions: low heat, inside out.  And if for some reason your HTV starts to peel up, you can always iron it back down again!  However, it should not peel up if you’ve applied good solid pressure in the first place.

"Keep Calm & Always Return My Pencils" T-Shirt Gift for Teachers with tips n' tricks for working with Heat Transfer Vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

HTV is a really fun medium to work with (don’t let my overly detailed tips fool you).  You can really create some professional-looking personalized creations that make for fantastic gifts.

And this one is a guaranteed smile for teachers everywhere…this teacher can vouch for that!

"Keep Calm & Always Return My Pencils": Creative T-Shirt Gift Idea for Teachers. Step by step tutorial includes tips n' tricks for working with heat transfer vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

Especially if you pair with some Trendy Chalkboard & Neon Pencils:

Trendy Pencil decorated with chalkboard paint and neon chalk markers! Via thinkingcloset.com
D.I.Y. “Trendy” Chalkboard & Neon Pencils

I think we might see teachers around the world sportin’ their “KEEP CALM” t-shirts on casual Fridays!

"Keep Calm & Always Return My Pencils": Creative T-Shirt Gift Idea for Teachers. Step by step tutorial includes tips n' tricks for working with heat transfer vinyl on your Silhouette machine!

More “KEEP CALM” Creations

I love the “KEEP CALM” memes so much, I even made a “KEEP CALM & CARRY ME” Onesie for a friend…

"Keep Calm" onesie using freezer paper stenciling and fabric paint! Tutorial by The Thinking Closet.
“Keep Calm & Carry Me” Onesie

…and “KEEP CALM & D.I.Y. ON” Tattoos for Haven Blog Conference this summer.

DIY Temporary Tattoos! Such a fun addition to business cards, especially for crafters and DIYers. Tutorial includes FREE cut files!
“KEEP CALM & DIY ON” Temporary Tattoos

Keep calm and craft on, my friends!

This is Lauren, signing off.

*Full Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post; however, I received free product in exchange for an honest review.  This post also contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase after clicking through, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Please rest assured that as always, I only recommend products that I use and love like cray-cray.

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22 Comments

  1. Thank you… this is just what I need. I’m back in the classroom after 16 years at home with my family… In 6 months I have lost track of the number of pencils I have given out. This is not just going to be my t shirt, but vinyled to my white board… just the smile I needed tonight.

  2. Haha I ALWAYS had to fight this battle with my students. I ended up taping fake flowers to the tops of them and they hardly ever went missing after that. Surprisingly, the boys liked them more than the girls. Great shirt for teacher workdays and casual Fridays. 🙂

  3. Agree, this is so cute to wear on casual Friday or for a teacher to wear when cheering students at a school football or field hockey game. I pinned it to my Moms in Prayer International Board since we praying moms are always looking for great ways to bless teachers. Thanks for sharing this fun meme and tutorial!

  4. The Keep Calm trend is so fun! There are so many great ones out there, and this is one of ’em. I like the apple on top and that the shirt is red=perfect for teachers! And what a perfect solution to your pencil “borrowing” problem. Do you still have those fun flowery pencils?

  5. Ha, I also still like all the “Keep Calm…” things and seriously, I need a shirt like this. On Monday, please! That’s when we start again here. I’m not really motivated yet. Am I a bad teacher now?

  6. Ha–looks like I commented twice. Oops! I could have sworn I commented on this yesterday but I thought it might have been on facebook not here lol. Not paying attention, per usual! Guess I just double like it then 😉

  7. I LOVE this shirt–and all the keep calm projects you do! Super cute!! I’ve been wanting to try HTV for a while, but I’ve not yet purchased any (#lazy). Have you found that it holds up nicely on the shirt even after a wash? I feel like HTV would hold up in the wash better than fabric paint (which I heart) but I can’t say having never tried it! Hope you are well 🙂 Also, I’m rocking a pair of blue ombre paint chip earrings today FYI 😉

    <3 Gabbs

  8. Love this!!! I teach high school and went through the same problems. I found it to be too much trouble when they didn’t have a pencil and I didn’t give them one. I finally started giving them my own children’s leftover pencils and picking up pencils everywhere I went. Your idea will solve a lot of my problems. Can’t wait to utilize it! Thanks!

  9. Got a really good laugh at your pencil story. Here is how I solved the problem in my high school math classes. I collected pencils left on the floor at the end of the day. The shorter and more chewed on, the better. I put them all into my loaner pencil box on the corner of my desk. Anyone was welcome to take one without even asking. After the initial complaints about not wanting to use the grubby, yucky pencil, they started solving the problem on their own without involving me. And if they did have to use one of the grubby ones, they always returned it.

    Your way is, however, much cuter!

  10. I totally hear you! The last few years whenever a pupil wants a pencil, I let them give their school ID (which also opens their locker) or cell phone in exchange. They never forget to bring back my stuff anymore!

  11. I LOVE this shirt!! If I’m every a teacher again, I am /so/ making this. I saw one similar once on Pinterest that said “Keep Calm and Pretend This Was on the Lesson Plan” which made me lol pretty heartily too!!

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