To celebrate the success I have achieved in my Craft Room Transformation project so far, I decided to make a Create sign to hang in my craft room, just something small, inspirational, and just for me. I stenciled this using a stencil cut from vinyl on my Cricut. This is a one-time throw-away stencil and a perfect use for vinyl you can get for free.
Learn how you can inspire yourself to be creative!
Material and Supplies
(This post contains affiliate links to one or more of the items I used in this project – which means, if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission. There is no added cost to you!)
- Wood Oval
- Paint for basecoat (I used latex paint from painting my craft room walls)
- Paint for accent (latex paint from painting my craft room trim)
- Paint for the stenciling (artist acrylics)
- Paint brushes
- Stencil brushes
- Design (in my Resource Library)
I bought birch ovals so I could make signs to give as gifts. With several in the stack, I have enough to make a Create sign for myself. They are a nice size. The information says that they are 12-1/2″ x 7-3/4″ but mine measures 12-3/4″ along the longest measurement.
Prepare and Paint the Wood
The birch ovals are nicely cut and only needed a light sanding to smooth out the edges. Once sanded, I applied two coats of the wall paint that I used when I painted my craft room. Latex paint takes longer to dry than acrylics. If you use wall paint like I did, be sure to let the basecoat dry a day before using a vinyl stencil on it.
To give the edge of the Create sign some contrast from the walls, I painted the edge and a border on the face of the sign in bright white. To draw a consistent border around the edge, there a few ways you can do this.
- You can use a drawing compass. Set the spacing between the point and the pencil to the border depth you want. You also need to move the pencil up into the clamp. Lay the side of the point/pin against the vertical edge of the sign and set the pencil point onto the surface of the sign. Then, just draw the compass around the sign.
- You can use a seamstress hem measuring tool. Set the slider to the depth of the border you want to paint and mark all around the face of the sign. You could also use a ruler to measure in your border width.
- Rig up your own tool with tape, a pencil and another item that will give you the spacing you need. For my example, I used two pencils and a chopstick.
Once the border was drawn, I started the border with a fine liner brush.
Using a larger brush, I filled in the border, including the vertical edges.
Create the Stencil
You can hand-cut the stencil or you can cut in on a craft machine.
For your project you can choose one of the following:
- Machine cut: Download the zip file from my Resource Library, extract the .SVG file and upload it to your craft machine design software. Cut the vinyl, weed it, then apply the transfer material.
- Hand cut: Download the PDF file from my Resource Library, print page 2 on legal (8-1/2″x14″) paper, hand cut from stencil film.
This was going to be a one-time stencil so I decided to cut it on my Cricut from a low tack vinyl. The design is laid out to be cut from a single sheet of vinyl. You can separate the objects to different pieces of vinyl if you prefer.
Note: If you want to learn how to acquire vinyl for free when you need vinyl for a stencil (that you will just throw away anyway), you can read my post about how to talk to a sign shop to acquire their vinyl scraps. They throw away scraps that are larger than your cutting mat.
Apply the Stencil for the “Create” Sign
The stencil is designed to fit within the border on the sign. Not all pre-fabricated oval signs will be the exact same size so you may need to guess a little when placing the stencil.
- Remove the backing from the vinyl
- Holding the transfer material, center the stencil inside the border
- Burnish the vinyl to the board to get a good seal
- Remove the transfer material
If you hand-cut your stencil, center the stencil within the border and tape the stencil to the board.
Stenciling the Create Sign
You are now ready to stencil the sign. The video below is a sped-up version of the stenciling I did of this design. If you want some details about how to do the stenciling, watch the video in this blog post: https://www.tracylynncrafts.com/stenciled-tote-bag
Complete!
Your new inspirational sign is now complete and ready for you to hang in your craft room or wherever you want to be inspired to be creative! This also makes a great gift for the creative friends in your life.
Save this to your favorite Pinterest board so you can make it for yourself or as a gift.
Other Posts About Cutting Vinyl
If you are new to cutting vinyl or just want to try some new projects, then you can click these links to try some of the things I have blogged about that use vinyl somewhere in the project such as using vinyl for a stencil or an etching mask.
- How to get Vinyl for Free (my most popular!)
- Love Your Home! …with These Easy to Make Stenciled HOME Panels
- Royally Etched and Painted Crown Bottles
- Stenciled Tudor Rose Box
- DIY “Create” Sign for Craft Room
- Stenciled NOEL Canvas Holiday Panels
- Believe! – Christmas Plaque
- Kitchen Canister Labels: Organize Your Kitchen
- Shadow Box Heart Art – You Make My Heart Soar!
- Clean and Dirty Dishwasher Magnet
- Gift Poem for the New Mom and Dad
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