Personalizing Travel Accessories with Vinyl Layered Monograms

 This is a sponsored post.

Many credit cards and all U.S. passports issued after 2006 (plus some other ID cards, such as workplace IDs and some state drivers licenses) contain radio frequency identification (RFID) chips that broadcast personal information. They are constantly transmitting and thieves that have an RFID reader can capture that information just by walking by you. That’s right, even if the credit card or passport is in a bag or a purse they can get that information, and the only way they can’t is if you block that signal.

Keeping my passport information safe is really important to me since I’m a citizen by naturalization. My passport is my only portable means of proving my citizenship.

Bago Travel Bags Undercover Travel Money Belt with RFID BLOCKING technology will completely block that signal from being able to be picked up from RFID readers.

So I’m going to Canada in a few months to attend my nephew’s wedding and Bago Travel Bags sent me one of their Undercover Travel Money Belts to review.

If you have a die cut machine like a Silhouette or Cricut, it’s easy to add a bit of personalization to these money belts.

What I did was choose a font I liked (Austie Bost Blueberry Muffins from dafont.com), and made a monogram with it. Then I offset the text so that I’d have an under layer which I cut in white vinyl and the monogram letters in black vinyl. I did use permanent vinyl for this (the white is EnduraGloss in the White Matte, and the black is Oracal 651). I opted to not use htv and iron on as I didn’t know how that might affect the RFID layer.

Layering with vinyl isn’t difficult if you add a few ‘registration marks’ to your design. Essentially what that means is you add two shapes of some kind just to the side of your design that you cut with each layer.

To accomplish this you make sure it’s all set up on the screen the way you want it and then cut the layers in stages choosing to cut the registration marks with each layer, but never moving them.

That way when it’s time to add your design to the item you just match up those shapes with each layer and your vinyl will be in the right position.

Leave your bottom layer on the vinyl backing after weeding. Using clear transfer tape, after weeding, on your next layer burnish your vinyl onto it including the registration marks.

Then lift the transfer tape and return your vinyl image to the vinyl backing so your registration marks hang off the edge of the backing; this is going to allow you to line up the shapes without worrying about the rest of your design sticking to the base layer before you’re ready.

Line the registration marks up, and lay them down on top of each other, when that is all positioned you can then remove the backing off the top layer and lay it down onto the bottom layer.

Burnish well and you’re ready to put your design on your item. You can see my marks were off by just a hair (I was doing this in bad lighting, which I should never do), but the offset was forgiving enough that you wouldn’t know.

In this case, I put a ceramic tile inside the front pocket of the money belt so that I would have the material taut and it would be easier to burnish and adhere it to the fabric. I didn’t burnish the registration marks so they didn’t even make it on to the fabric, but if your registration marks do get transferred with your design, you should be able to remove them right away with little problem.

Let the vinyl cure on the money belt for 48 hours before using. This is on very well and is not lifting at all. I love it.

Besides the RFID blocking material, I really like the features of this belt.

• Made from high quality & durable materials that can withstand wear and tear
• Soft and breathable fabric at the back for light and soft feel when in contact with skin.
• Several Dividers in each compartment for better organization.

• Many dividers in the 2 main compartments.
• Main compartment with RFID protection

• High quality YKK zippers with hidden pockets for the zippers (so won’t stand out)

• Inside stretchable cord for attachment of items
• Adjustable, breathable and flexible waist strap

• Back open compartment for the strap or other stuff

• Super lightweight
• ✭ 100% Satisfaction Guarantee ✭

If this is a product that interests you for traveling in order to keep your ID and financial information you can find these money belts for purchase on Amazon.com.

Bago Travel Bags has given me the chance to giveaway one of their Undercover Travel Money Belts to one of my readers.

This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents ages 18 and older. No PO Boxes. The winner will have 48 hours to respond, and will be randomly chosen. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read and agree to the Privacy Statement and Giveaway Rules posted on our site. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.  Giveaway begins on 2/23/15 at 5:00 AM CST and ends on 3/2/15 at 11:59 PM CST.