To some of you, the word ‘Spangles‘ in the headline might not ring a bell! It might just seem like a random series of letters strung together.

It’s probably because you don’t know what it means yet. But we can promise you, once you make it to the end of this section, you’ll understand spangles on a ‘professional’ level.

If we have done it, you can do it too!

So, let’s begin this with a few basics about spangles. What are they? Spangles are, in their simplest form, small, flat, and often holographic discs that have been punched out of a roll of spangle tape.

You may want to read that last sentence twice to let it sink in.

Maybe we wrote it in a wordy way, and you’re still left wondering what they are. In layman’s terms, spangles imitate and mimic rhinestones. Instead of having a three-dimensional form and faceted look like real gemstones, they are flat, circular pieces of material used to add a sparkling and decorative element to various ordinary items, such as clothing, costumes, accessories, and promotional products.

Now we’re going to get to the ‘how’ part in a second, but while we’re here, we wanted to mention that these spangles have an adhesive backing that is heat activated. The spangle machine essentially hole punches the spangle tape and transfers them onto a transfer sheet. This sheet can then be heat-applied to a substrate.

So, that’s what spangles are and how spangle transfers come to be. Let’s take it one step further and look at how spangle transfers are made from start to finish.