Raise your hand if you know someone getting married this year. We always give money as the main gift but I also have to include a special personalized gift too.I received a sign as a gift for my wedding (this was before I discovered Silhouette) and it was one of my favorites instantly.
I think it's the personal touches that people appreciate the most, things that tell the story of who they are and how they got to where they are now.
I also love that people have wedding websites now that tell all of their guests their full background story and hopefully they include the important dates of their relationship. This makes a crafter's research very easy!!
I'm going to show you how to make a simple acrylic sign showcasing all of those dates with the couple's city skyline too.
The Supply List:
I'm making this for my brother's wedding that is next month! They live in Michigan and Detroit is a big part of who they are. They almost got married downtown and took their engagement photos there.
I thought it would be really fun to add the skyline along the bottom, lucky for me there's a design file for that!! Simply open up the file using the merge tool.
I placed it along the bottom edge and sized it to fit the width. I did keep it about 1/4" from the very bottom edge for the acrylic to sit in the wood base.
Now start typing in the dates that are important to the couple. I'm using the font Rust and Nails from the Mega Font Bundle.
If you want to say what the date signifies you can write that below. I'm using the font Austin from the Amazing Craft Bundle.
Don't forget to use that handy align tool to make sure everything is perfectly aligned!
Here's the overall look!
I filled in the words so it was easier to see and then used the guides to perfectly line everything up.
I'm cutting this on a 12" x 12" sheet of vinyl so I don't have to worry about lining things up on the acrylic myself.
Attach the vinyl to the cutting mat and load it in the machine.
Make sure any cursive fonts are welded together and send it to be cut.
While the vinyl is cutting, let's prep the wood for the base of the sign.
Place the acrylic on the wood and mark the edge. Use your miter saw to cut the wood to size.
The reason I chose to use 1/8" thick acrylic is because it happens to be the same width of a saw blade! Set your table saw up so the blade only cuts about 1/4" deep and is roughly centered on the wood.
Carefully cut a line down the center of the wood, please watch your fingers!!No one wants your blood on their gift.
This what I call cheater routing!
Make sure the fit is perfect, as long as the acrylic is 1/8" thick it should be right.
Now is when you can stain or paint the wood if you choose to do so. I stained mine with a weathered oak stain.
While the stain/paint dries let's go back inside and prep the acrylic with the vinyl. Use your tools to weed away the excess vinyl (I always lose my tiny dots for the i's and honestly I don't find it worth hunting them down most of the time)
Carefully attach the transfer tape over top.
I used my knife to trim the top edge to be straight. That's how I'm aligning this on the acrylic so I needed that perfect.
Fold the paper back and carefully align the top edges and make sure it will roll down straight.
Working slowly, pull the paper backing away while attaching the vinyl down. Use the application tool to get a firm grip.
Slowly pull off the transfer tape. The city skyline was slightly wider than the acrylic so I flipped it over and trimmed away the excess material.
The acrylic is done!!I have to say I'm crazy impressed that the Silhouette cut those tiny little flags on the building tops so perfectly.
This part was honestly the hardest for me!!I used a little bit of hot glue to secure the acrylic in the wood. The challenge is hot glue cools fast!!So work as fast as you can. I used my heat gun to reheat spots as I worked. Finger burns at this stage are just part of the process! The crafter life is hardcore!!
Also on the list of difficult things...photographing shiny acrylic!!
Not pictured, the 100 other photos I took while trying to get the perfect shot without you seeing my reflection.
What I love about this piece is you can place it anywhere, it's not stuck to being hung on a wall.
You are so going to be everyone's favorite gift giver.
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