Tiffany from OC Vintage Charm is walking you through all the steps to create a gorgeous DIY wood sign using Color Chimp HTV! For more project ideas and inspiration, be sure to check out the Craftey Community!
Are you new to crafting with Color Chimp HTV and a Cricut Machine? Do you prefer projects that don’t require power tools? This post is for YOU!
Everyone loves a great DIY wood sign to display in their home, give as a gift or even sell if you have a business. I wanted to create an easy wood sign for my home that my husband could relate to. I’m from Southern California but he’s originally from England where it gets very cold and snows quite a bit. One of my favorite things to do with iron-on vinyl is to create wood signs. You don’t have to worry about paint seeping under your stencil and you have the opportunity to make sure your image is in the perfect placement before you iron it down. That’s a double win for me!
Tools + Materials Needed For This Project:
- Wood panel or your choice of wood (I used Master’s Touch 11x14 painting panel from Hobby Lobby)
- Paint
- Wood Stain
- Painters Tape
- Foam Brush or Paint Brush
- 120 Grit Sandpaper
- Color Chimp Essentials 12” X 3’ Heat Transfer Vinyl in Black
- Color Chimp Flock 20” X 10” Heat Transfer Vinyl in Ice Blue
- Cricut Maker (or other cutting machine)
- Cricut Light Grip Cutting Mat
- Weeding Tool
- Spatula
- Scissors
- Cricut EasyPress (or iron)
- Cricut Iron-on Protective Sheet (a thin towel works great too)
WOOD PREPARATION –
Start out by preparing your wood piece. Tape around the border of your center with painters tape and paint the inner rectangle white with a foam brush or paint brush. Let this completely dry. Remove painters tape and tape directly onto the white rectangle around the entire border so you can begin to stain your wood with a foam brush. Once the wood is stained, let it dry for a few hours. Next, remove the painters tape and lightly sand your painted surface for a smooth finish. You could also distress your stained wood if you wanted a more rustic feel. Remove debris from the wood panel.
UPLOAD IMAGE USING A PNG FILE –
Open Design Space and upload your image to a new canvas.
Select New, Upload, Upload Image, Browse and search for the PNG image you wish to upload. For my wood sign, I went ahead and purchased a pre-made image from the shop “Downloads that Donate” on Etsy. “Let it Snow… Somewhere Else” image can be found here. Upload the image to Design Space by selecting simple, continue and since this image needs no corrections you can select continue again. Save the file as a “Cut” image. You can now select your uploaded image and insert it into your new canvas.
SIZING –
Resize your image so it will fit on your wood panel. I sized mine to 9.5” wide X 10.402” tall.
CONTOUR AND CUT –
Since I used two different colors and you don’t have the option to ungroup the PNG image, I used the Contour button on the bottom right-hand corner of your screen to help hide images while I cut out the project.
Click on the image so it’s highlighted, select Contour, click on the snowflake to hide it from your project and then click on the “X” in the upper right-hand corner of the box. This will remove the snowflake from your image.
Now you are ready to start cutting out your project! Click the green “Make It” button in the upper right-hand corner. When working with HTV, you need to mirror your image. Select “Mirror” on the left-hand side of your screen and click continue. Select your device, set materials to “Iron-on”, place your Color Chimp Essentials black HTV shiny side down on the Cricut Mat and load into the machine by pushing the flashing light. Once your mat is loaded you can push the lit “C” to start cutting.
Remove mat after the cut is finished and repeat steps to cut the snowflake out. This time you will hide everything but the snowflake and when you select the material for your Color Chimp Ice Blue Flock you will select “Flocked Iron-On.”
Don’t be intimidated by the detailed steps! It’s VERY simple to do!
WEEDING –
With your spatula, gently remove your HTV from the mat. Take your wedding tool and remove the excess material from the carrier sheet. You may want to trim your carrier sheet to make it more manageable when pressing.
PRESSING YOUR IMAGES –
Grab your iron or Cricut EasyPress and set to desired heat. When using my EasyPress I always check the Quick Reference Guide online for updated temperatures. DO NOT use steam if using a regular iron.
Place the “Let it Snow” image on the wood panel and apply heat. Color Chimp Essentials HTV can be peeled off when warm but before you remove the carrier sheet make sure the HTV has adhered to the wood. Place your snowflake in the desired area but before you add heat use a protective sheet or thin towel so you don’t damage your first image.
HOORAY, YOU’RE FINISHED –
Look at the beautiful custom sign you just created! I love that you can create something out of wood and HTV and make it look so flawless. BRAVO!!! Now go find a spot for it in your house and think up the next project you are going to create. If you wanted, you could even put another project on the back of this wood panel for say New Year’s or Valentine’s Day? Hmmm…
Happy Crafting!!
