Ah ok, don´t worry, and yes, HTV is the best way to make your own lasting tshirt decorations without a sublimation printer, which, as you say, are quite expensive if you cannot amortize them.
Then welcome to the HTV, if you try it, please, let us know your experience, it`'s awesome!
If you are pertaining to Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) the sample is like in the picture below. I used glittered HTV on this burlap bag. You can use several colors but you will need to cut it per color then arrange it in your shirt. Also you will be needing a heat press to transfer your design to your shirt.