*NOT FOR SALE*. Informational post and review only!
UPDATE: I CALLED NISSAN STADIUM SECURITY (615-565-4300 on 1/5/23 at 11:26AM EST) AND VERIFIED THAT I CAN TAKE CLEAR BAGS WITH DECALS ON THEM IN.
Hey everyone! I just wanted to make a post that 1) reviews CAK Creations (https://cakcreationsco.company.site/products/ ) and 2) shows my DIY bag plan for The Eras Tour!
To start, working with Carrie at CAK Creations was SUCH a positive experience. I had found some bags I wanted to use and asked each of the people attending the concert with me what their favorite Taylor Swift lyric was. Carrie was able to custom create each of the vinyl lyric stickers I wanted. She matched the fonts of the lyrics to the album they were from and we collaborated to select colors for each sticker. She used permanent vinyl and I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out! Before she shipped them, I asked if it was possible for her to recreate the Eras Tour logo as a sticker as well and she was able to. After she had made all of my beautiful stickers, she shipped them in an awesome silver holographic mailer and they arrived within a couple days. Shipping was really fast and they were very safely packaged between two pieces of cardboard within the bubble mailer.
There will be lots of photos below and I want to make extra sure you have access to Carrie’s site, so I’m going to link it again here: https://cakcreationsco.company.site/products/
If you want to find Carrie on Facebook, here’s a link for that as well: https://www.facebook.com/CAK-Creations-Co-110396221090976/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Carrie is also available at http://www.instagram.com/Colorado.swiftie13 and TikTok (@colorado.swiftie13) and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/CO_swiftie13
If I were to give CAK Creations/Carrie a rating, it would be 10/10! She was a dream to work with, her products are well made and look great, and she made the collaboration process very fun. Her stuff is also very reasonably priced! This is not an ad, I have not received anything in exchange for my honest review, and I do not know Carrie personally. She was just that wonderful to work with!
I am going to the Nissan Stadium in Nashville and their bag policy is that you can have a clear bag up to 12 inches x 12 inches x 6 inches.
I bought four of these clear bags from Walmart for $10.99 each plus shipping (https://www.walmart.com/ip/342498896) They are 8.27 inches x 8.27 inches by 2.95 inches:
Now you’re going to see the awesome stickers Carrie created! Here is the logo sticker:
For each bag, I’m putting the large The Eras Tour sticker on the back, then putting a lyric sticker underneath the flap in the front!
This is what the lyrics stickers look like. The grid is the transfer tape and will not be on the final products! There are only four of us going and four bags, but I just couldn’t pick my favorite lyrics so I ordered several extras!
Here is what I did for each bag (with guidance from Carrie, who is AMAZING):
Step 1: Open each bag so the back will be the right shape. The bags were kind of pressed together for shipping by the third party retailer from Walmart.
Step 2: Slide a piece of cardboard into the bag. This will help stabilize the bag and will make it easier to attach the stickers.
Step 3: Wipe the area where the sticker is going to go with isopropyl alcohol. ALLOW IT TO DRY COMPLETELY.
Step 4: Peel the backing off of the Eras Tour logo stickers.
Step 5: Line the sticker up with the edges of the bag and try to get it as straight as possible.
Step 6: Gently place the sticker. I started at the bottom then slowly moved up the sticker. I then just kind of ran my debit card up and down on the Eras Tour sticker to make sure it was on the bag well.
Step 7: At this point I realized it would be smart and make my life easier to cut a piece of cardboard for the front pocket of the bag also. So I did that and placed it in the pocket. I removed the big cardboard piece from the main pocket of the bag just in case that would somehow interfere.
Step 8: Repeat step 3 on the front of the bag under the flap. Wipe the area where the sticker is going to go with isopropyl alcohol. ALLOW IT TO DRY COMPLETELY.
Step 9: Place the vinyl lyrics sticker on a hard flat object. Rub a credit card/debit card/ something similar over the top of the transfer tape to ensure the letters are all on the transfer tape.
Step 10: SLOWLY peel the transfer tape and vinyl sticker off of the backing paper. Start from a corner and ensure each letter is on the transfer tape before moving on.
Step 11: Place the vinyl lyrics sticker as close to the center as you can (or wherever you would like for it to be placed.).
Step 12: Run your credit card/debit card/ something similar over the transfer tape, taking care with each letter to make sure it is attaching to the bag.
Step 13: Starting from a corner, gently peel the transfer tape off of the vinyl lyrics sticker, ensuring each letter is being left behind on the bag.
Step 14: Remove the cardboard from the inside pocket and take a photo to show people!
Repeat with other bags and stickers until you have attached all the stickers you want on your bags. Wait 72 hours before using the bag or moving it around too much so the adhesive has time to set!
Some of you may say, “those bags look like they were made by an amateur!” To that, I would say, “well yeah, I don’t exactly have a ton of experience applying vinyl stickers to stadium bags.” Carrie did not place the vinyls for me. She just created and mailed me the stickers. If you hate them, that’s cool, but I don’t really need to hear about it because I tried my best!
“Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” 