Did you know you can buy sublimation blanks at your local Michaels? Today I’m testing out eight Michaels Make Market sublimation blanks to see if they sublimate well and if the price is worth it compared to similar products!
As the sublimation market has grown, we’ve seen it move from mostly online retailers to some of our favorite local craft stores. I know I can get sublimation supplies at my local JOANN, but my Michaels is really where it’s at—they have nearly half an aisle of sublimation blanks now, with lots of fun choices.
This means that you can walk right into your local craft store and walk out with sublimation supplies, without having to wait for shipping!
So I grabbed a bunch of Make Market sublimation blanks to give them a test! All prices are current as of the writing of this post, but always look for coupons!
I’m not going to go into the details of how to make each of these projects, but I will link to other tutorials on my blog for more information. Here’s what I picked up.
These are all the Michaels Make Market brand and all are designed specifically for sublimation. I’ve linked them here if you’d like to purchase online, but they may also be available in your local store.
- Youth t-shirt
- Reusable tote bag
- Zippered pouch
- Ceramic coasters
- Luggage tags
- Tall travel mug
- Glass mug
- Silver glitter mug
If you need more information about sublimation in general, I recommend my extensive ebook The Ultimate Guide to Sublimation!
Watch the Video
Want to see how these projects turned out on video? Just click play below!
Grab the Free Heart Sublimation Design under S23
Because we’re coming up on Valentine’s Day, I have a bundle of 3D heart sublimation files for you! This zip file can be found in my Free Craft Resource Library and includes both single hearts as well as backgrounds. The file number is: S23. Of course, however, you can use whatever files you’d like with these blanks!
Want access to this free file? Join my FREE resource library! All you need is the password to get in, which you can get by filling out the form below!
Youth T-Shirt – $5.99
- Time: 60 seconds
- Temperature: 385° F
- Pressure: medium
- Tutorial: Sublimation Aprons (process is very similar)
Overall Impression: I like the feel of this youth t-shirt (the adult t-shirts they had were similar!). A lot of polyester shirts feel thin, but this has a nice weight to it. It sublimated beautifully.
Cost Comparison: A Cricut youth sublimation t-shirt is $6.99, but I haven’t seen it at full price in months. Usually it’s below $4 on Amazon. A nicer Gildan youth polyester tee at Heat Transfer Warehouse is $7.38.
Reusable Tote Bag – $3.99
- Time: 60 seconds
- Temperature: 385° F
- Pressure: medium
- Tutorial: Sublimation Aprons (process is very similar)
Overall Impression: This is an absolutely enormous tote bag! It sublimated really nicely but I am not sure why you’d need a tote bag this big, honestly. I thought the quality wasn’t the best for this one—it came with a few snags in the fabric and it puckered a bit at the seams.
Cost Comparison: A Cricut infusible ink tote bag is $5.49-6.49 (depending which size you choose), but retails for $12.99. Usually it’s below $6 on Amazon. A sublimation tote bag at Heat Transfer Warehouse is $5.50.
Zippered Pouch – $3.99
- Time: 60 seconds
- Temperature: 385° F
- Pressure: medium
- Tutorial: Sublimation Aprons (process is very similar)
Overall Impression: This is the second time I’ve used one of these sublimation zippered pouches and it probably won’t be the last. I really like the metal zipper (vs. one of those tiny nylon zippers that’s hard to open and close) and it sublimated well. My one downside is that it’s not perfectly rectangular.
Cost Comparison: A 3-pack of Cricut cosmetic pouches is $5.49. It looks like you can get a 50-pack of sublimation pouches on Amazon for $28.99. These are a great deal, but beware that quality can vary.
Ceramic Coasters – $7.99
- Time: 120 seconds
- Temperature: 400° F
- Pressure: medium
Overall Impression: There are two ways to do ceramic coasters. I’ve only pressed from the back before (that’s how I do Cricut Infusible Ink coasters), but I pressed these from the front with the shorter time and they turned out absolutely great. I definitely recommend these.
Cost Comparison: A 4-pack of Cricut coasters is $5.49. While not quite the same, Heat Transfer Warehouse offers soft sublimation coasters for $1.25 each.
Luggage Tags – $5.99
- Time: 120 seconds
- Temperature: 400° F
- Pressure: medium
Overall Impression: I really like sublimation luggage tags. They are a fun project and make great gifts. I thought these sublimated really well, though the strap piece feels a bit cheap and I’d be afraid of it breaking or coming loose. I’d probably use something more secure to tie it to my suitcase.
Cost Comparison: At this time, Cricut doesn’t seem to offer luggage tags. I found a pack of 4 luggage tags at Joann for under $12 (currently on sale). There are tons of options on Amazon, that seem to be roughly $10 for a 4-pack of leather sublimation tags.
Tall Travel Mug – $14.99
- Time: 60 seconds
- Temperature: 375° F
- Pressure: medium
- Tutorial: Sublimation Tumbler
Overall Impression: This isn’t my favorite travel mug blank. The bottom is too large to fit in a cup holder and I’m not a big fan of the handle. But I used my PYD Life tumbler press for this one and it sublimated absolutely beautifully. So while it’s not for me, it might be for you!
Cost Comparison: This one feels a bit pricey at Michael’s, so I took a peek on Amazon. PYD Life has tons of different travel mugs. I found this 4-pack of 20 oz. travel mugs for just about $10 each. PYD Life has some really great blanks at a reasonable price!
Glass Mug – $3.99
- Time: 80 seconds
- Temperature: 360° F
- Pressure: medium
- Tutorial: Sublimate Glass
Overall Impression: Pressing glass mugs is always interesting because you never really know how well your design is going to turn out. Unfortunately, this one didn’t turn out well at all. I wonder if adding more time or increasing the temperature would help, but I was pretty disappointed in these results!
Cost Comparison: Again, PYD Life is my go-to for these types of cup blanks. I don’t love sublimating on clear glass, but find that frosted glass gives a better result. This pack of frosted can glasses retail for $25.55 for a 6-pack. That’s roughly $4.25 each.
Silver Glitter Mug – $4.99
- Time: 80 seconds
- Temperature: 375° F
- Pressure: medium
Overall Impression: Glitter can create such a fun finish in sublimation, but unfortunately this one didn’t work for me either! If I was to do it again, I’d probably increase the time and temperature to see if I could get a better finish.
Cost Comparison: This is another one I don’t think Cricut offers, however, PYD Life has an 8-pack of glitter mugs on Amazon for $35.99 ($4.50 per mug).
These blanks were really hit or miss! For the ones that worked well, I love that they are so accessible and I don’t have to wait or pay for shipping. Overall I think Michaels sublimation blanks are a generally a good entry to the sublimation market (minus the last two!), but if you’re looking to make a lot of one blank, I’d look into buying in bulk vs. buying at retail prices, especially if you’re running as small business.
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