Category: Project Tutorials

Last year, I shared a tutorial on using your Silhouette or Cricut and a scroll saw to cut out shaped blanks that you could paint or stain. (Missed it? Read it here.) I’ve been meaning to add another, and today I finally got around to it!

In the first tutorial, I kept the scroll saw cuts super simple. This time, this tutorial features more difficult cuts – like cutting out the centers of text. You’ll also notice that I used a thicker wood – 1/2 inch select pine.

How to Cut Out Wood Words & Shapes Using a Scroll Saw

1. Use your Silhouette or Cricut to cut a template from cardstock. I used the Hello Wedding font and the word Craft. After cutting your cardstock template, trace around it on your wood using a pencil. 
   
2. Begin your scroll saw cuts and cut around the entire outside of your word or shape. Cutting with a scroll saw is much like using a sewing machine. As you complete more projects, you’ll get better at doing smooth rounded edges and corners. The one thing that helps me is to constantly keep my wood moving. (If you are curious, I don’t have a fancy scroll saw. Read more about it here.)
3. After you’ve cut around the outside of the design, drill holes into the insides of the text (these are called islands). Now, consult your scroll saw manual to find out how to remove the blade. On my scroll saw, I turn a knob which releases the tension in the blade and allows me to remove and rethread the blade through my drilled hole. Then, you’ll cut out all of the islands. 
   
4. After you’ve cut your shape, sand down any rough edges. (Need tips for sanding? Head to this post.) I used my palm sander for the front, back, and edges and sandpaper for the islands and other nooks and crannies. 
5. Stain or paint your wood word or shape. I used spray on stain (wood stain that comes in a spray paint can). This is the first project that I’ve used it and was happy with the results. Here’s the exact one I used. After staining and painting, your wood word is ready to add a hanger to the back and hang on the wall. I usually use screw in sawtooth hangers.
6. I decided to mount my word onto a frame on made with some wood scraps laying around my garage. I used basic wood nails to nail everything together. Here’s a link to a tutorial on the blog if you’d like to make a frame, too. Oh! I painted the background white using this.
   

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While everyone is thinking Christmas, I’m starting to think ahead to Valentine’s Day. Why? First, it’s not too early to start planning. Second, after Christmas, it’s the next big money making holiday for Silhouette and Cricut small business owners. If you’re like me, gift giving to men can be difficult. Coincidentally, I was browsing online the other day and stumbled across some blank men’s jewelry cases. Of course, they’d look better with a men’s monogram on top. So, that’s exactly what I did. Here’s how:

Supplies Needed

How to Etch a Men’s Jewelry Case

1. Create and cut a design from scrap adhesive vinyl. The brand doesn’t matter much, I used a scrap of Oracal 631. Then, weed it with your favorite weeding tool. 
2. Apply your transfer tape. Like always, I used GreenStar. 
3. Apply your vinyl to the top of the box. I used the hinge method that you can read about in this instruction set. 
   
   
   
4. Now, you’ll use a wooden stick, squeegee, or brush to apply the etching creme. I prefer the Etchall or Armour Etch brands over others I have used. 
5.  After 15 minutes, I carefully used a dry paper towel to remove the etching creme. You’ll need to be sure to not push any creme over the edge of the stencil. (Remember, the creme will etch any glass it touches.) Then, I wiped several times with a damp paper towel. Normally, I’d rinse it under water but I didn’t want to get the leather wet.
6. Peel off your vinyl stencil and discard.

Here’s a look at the final product: 

How Much To Charge

I paid $18 for the jewelry case. I spent less than $1 in supplies and 20 minutes of time. I’d sell for around $30 to $35. There were also several smaller cases on Amazon, like this one, if you’d like to go for a lower price point.

Who would have known: I gifted the valet to Mr. Cutting for Business shortly after I wrote this post. I asked him how much he thought I paid on Amazon. He said $35 to $40. We are both impressed with the feel and quality of the $17 valet box!

Like the font? I used the Baskerville font because it has a stately feel to it.

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I get emails all the time with questions from Cutting for Business readers about making wood signs using their Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Explore or Maker. Let’s take a step-by-step walk through making a sign with your Silhouette or Cricut.

How to Perfectly Paint Signs with Your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Explore or Maker

1. Buy wood. Learn the ins and outs of buying wood for sign making in this post: 
2. Cut the wood. Find out what power tools you’ll need: 
3. Sand your wood. Don’t just sand it, sand it well: 
4. Cut your stencil and paint your wood. I prefer to use Oramask 813 stencil film and GreenStar transfer tape. If you are having problems, troubleshoot in these posts.
   
5. Consider adding a frame: 
   
6. Selling your sign? Brand your sign with a stamp on the back with your Silhouette Mint. See the photo below for an example and read more about buying a Silhouette Mint here. 
7. Finally, package your sign to mail: 

Once you get the hang of making wood signs, here’s some advanced tutorials:

1. Get fancy with shaped wood blanks: 
2. Get in touch with your rustic side with barnwood: 
3. Or host a party with friends: 

I promise, if you sand your wood well, use only a tiny amount of paint on your signs, and dab your brush up and down – you will be successful making signs with your Silhouette or Cricut.

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Hey Silhouette and Cricut wood sign makers, are you having problems with your vinyl stencil peeling up the paint on your wooden sign? You know the struggle: you’ve cut your wood, sanded your wood, painted the background, applied your vinyl stencil, stenciled the sign, and you when you pull off the stencil little bits of the painted background come up, too! Today, I’m sharing a tip to help you prevent this.

How to Prevent Your Vinyl Stencil from Peeling Your Paint Up

When you pull up your vinyl stencil, pull it up against the grain of the wood. That’s it, it’s just that simple!

Let’s look at some pictures to demonstrate.

I’ve got my sign stenciled and I am ready to remove the vinyl stencil. (By the way, I prefer to use Oramask 813 stencil film.)

On the left side, I have pulled off the Oramask 813 stencil in the direction of the wood grain. You’ll see that several slivers of wood have pulled off onto with the stencil. I’ve circled them in the photo below.

On the other side of the sign, I’ve pulled off the Oramask 813 against the wood grain. 

From the photos, you can see that the stencil didn’t pull up the wood slivers. 

That’s it! One simple tip to prevent your vinyl stencil from pulling up the painted background when you remove it.

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When I share tips for selling at craft shows, I always remind small business owners to bring a variety of products in all price ranges. However, if you sell painted wooden signs made with your Silhouette or Cricut, it isn’t always easy to bring products in the under $5 range. It certainly doesn’t make sense to sell glass ornaments if your entire brand is wood signs! Today, I’m sharing how I created some mini wood sign ornaments that would sell for less than $5.

Tutorial: How to Make Wood Sign Christmas Ornaments

1. Cut and sand your wood. I used 1 inch by 3 inch common pine and my signs measure 3 inches by 3.5 inches. For a refresher on sanding your wood properly, head to this post. 
2. Paint your wood blanks. Feel free to use your favorite paint. 
3. Cut your stencil, weed it, and apply it to your wood blank. I used Oramask stencil film.
4. Paint your wood sign. 
5. Remove your stencil film immediately after painting.
6. After the signs are dry, drill holes in the corners and string a piece of twine through the holes and tie it off. 

Cost to Make Wood Sign Ornaments

Let’s talk numbers. Here’s a general cost breakdown to make wood sign ornaments:

• Wood. A 1″ x 3″ that is 8 feet long costs $8.72 at my local Home Depot. That means you’d be able to get 20 to 25 mini signs from one board. (I lose about 1/8 of an inch for every cut due to the thickness of my saw blade – yours may vary if it’s thinner or thicker.) If I get 20 mini sign blanks, they’d cost me $0.44 each. Don’t forget to check your wood scrap pile – this is a great way to use odds and ends pieces.
• Paint, twine, transfer tape, and stencil vinyl. Since it literally takes a few drops of paint to complete each one, a small amount of stencil vinyl, a few inches of twine, and one piece of transfer tape that I reused – I’m going to estimate the costs at $0.50 (although I think that’s a bit high).
• Labor. I like to make $20 an hour when making wood signs. I could paint at least 20 in one hour. So, for one sign, the labor costs are about $1.

When added together, my total cost becomes $1.94 per wood sign ornament. If I sold at $4 each, that’s a profit margin of 51.5%. At $5 each, the profit margin goes up to 61.2%. While you won’t get rich selling them, it’s a good margin – especially if you can sell many.

I recommend that you put your business information on the back so that customers can shop with you for a larger sign down the road. I use a Silhouette Mint to stamp the backs of mine.

If you are wondering, I used the Samantha font for the designs. You can pick up the font (usually on sale!) at this site.

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This post is a bit of a followup to a popular post on Cutting for Business: Why Does Paint Bleed when Using a Vinyl Stencil. I’ve had some readers read that post and email me stating that they are still experiencing bleeding – even after following my tips. Through a little detective work, I emailed several of those readers and found a common cause in every single case: they didn’t know how to properly sand the wood before painting or staining it. Today, let’s look at how to properly sand wood before making a wood sign with your Silhouette or Cricut cutting machine.

Before we start, let’s look at what you’ll need:

• A wood blank – Need tips to picking great wood? Head to this post.
• Sandpaper – You’ll need a couple of different grits of sandpaper. The grit refers to how coarse the paper is and is determined by the number of sand granules per square inch of paper. The lower the number, the coarser the paper; the higher the number, the more finer the sandpaper.
• A palm sander – I use (and love!) my DeWalt palm sander. You can buy it here, or read more about power tools in this blog post.
• Tack cloth – Tack cloth is used to clean up the particles of dust after sanding. Pick up a multi pack at this link.
• Safety goggles and a mask – Safety first! Protect your eyes, nose, and mouth from sawdust. Amazon has cheap goggles here and masks here.

How to Properly Sand Wood for Painted Wood Signs

1. Determine which direction the grain runs on your wood blank. The grain simply refers to the pattern of the wood. You never want to sand against the grain. 
2. Starting with a medium coarseness sandpaper, sand in the direction of the wood grain until the surface is smooth to the touch. When making wood signs, I generally use 120 grit or 150 grit sandpaper. (The grit number is printed on the back of the sheet.) Be cautious to make sure that you apply even pressure. It doesn’t matter whether you are sanding by hand or using a palm sander.
3. After your surface is smooth, sand it again with a higher grit sandpaper. This removes fine imperfections that you may not be able to see. For this step, I usually use 220 grit sandpaper. Again, be sure to use even pressure with your sandpaper or palm sander. 
4. When you’ve sanded the entire wood blank with your fine sandpaper, use a tack cloth to remove the dust. Keep the tack cloth folded. Use the exposed side to remove the dust from the wood blank. Once that side is full of dust, fold it over to a clean side, and so on. You should get many uses from a single tack cloth. 

That’s it! Once the dust has been removed, your wood sign blank is ready for staining or painting.

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So my kids needed some way to keep up with their YMCA membership cards – and I needed to get them out of my wallet.

Heat transfer vinyl, my Silhouette Cameo, and some cheap lanyards to the rescue. As I was making the lanyards, I got to thinking that this would be a fabulous way to use up heat transfer vinyl scraps (which we all have plenty)!

It’s fall and that means football is back!

Today, I’m sharing a free SVG – It’s Football Time. It’s perfect for a tote bag or a shirt.

Looking for more football inspiration? Read my list of football sayings.

Don’t forget: This free SVG includes commercial use. Read the license.

There’s so many freebie graphics that I see floating around the internet that would look awesome on shirts, canvas, and totes; but they are simply too detailed to use heat transfer materials. While I’ve seen some crafters tackle intricate designs with lots of heat transfer vinyl layering – you’ll never sell the finished product for enough money to compensate for the amount of time it takes to layer (and layer, and layer) deeply intricate multi color designs.

In the past, I’ve shared a series on sublimation. Sublimation is a great alternative to layering heat transfer materials in intricate designs. However, I know sublimation supplies are a big investment.

Another alternative to heat transfer materials with intricate details is to use an inkjet transfer paper like Jetpro SS. Here’s a quick tutorial which uses these floral letters.

Jetpro SS Inkjet Heat Transfer Paper Tutorial

1. Design and print your mirrored design onto the Jetpro SS Inkjet Heat Transfer Paper. Using Silhouette Studio, add registration marks. 
2. Set Silhouette Studio to “Cut Edge” and cut around the outside of the design. (You can do the same if you are using Cricut Design Space.) This ensures that the blank part of the transfer paper does not transfer to the shirt. 
3. Place your design onto the apparel. Heat resistant tape or painters tape works well to keep the design in place. 
4. Press your design. I pressed at 380 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 seconds. After pressing, immediately peel off the paper. 
5. That’s it! Way faster than layering heat transfer vinyl, cheaper than investing in sublimation, and fun to do! 
   

As small business owners – nothing is more important than our time. So, work smarter – not harder.

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