This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut. All opinions are 100% mine. This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Learn how to build your own custom DIY Large Wooden Sign! With this tutorial you can use the Cricut Explore for your specific sign needs!

Recently I’ve shared my new favorite toy with you, the Cricut Explore Air™, and a simple tutorial using a Make it Now Project from the Cricut Design Space. Today I’m here to show you how to make something really big! Remember how I mentioned I had BIG plans for the Cricut?? Well here it is…. Check out this 8′ DIY Large Wooden Sign! I like big signs and I cannot lie…. yup. FYI, when I start singing song lyrics I either need coffee or wine. I just got back from taking the kids swimming and made dinner…. I’ll let you decide which one I need right now ; )

This is longer than my normal tutorials so I’ll just jump right in. It’s not difficult to make at all, I just want to make sure you understand how to make it and catch all the steps!

DIY Large Wooden Sign

Supplies:

Sign – 

• Ryobi Table Saw
• Ryobi Miter Saw
• Ryobi Sander
• Ryobi Impact Driver
• Ryobi Brad Nailer
• Paintbrushes
• 3/4″ Plywood cut to 10″ x 8′
• (2) 1×2’s @ 8′
• (2) 1×2’s @ 11 1/2″
• White Paint
• Wood Stain
• Gray Milk Paint
• Lint Free Rags

Lettering –

• Cricut Explore Air™
• Cricut® 12×24 StandardGrip Adhesive Cutting Mat
• Black Vinyl
• Transfer Tape
• Cricut® Tools Basic Set

How to make a DIY Large Wooden Sign – 8′ to be exact!

First, let’s prepare the sign. Take your 10″ x 8′ piece of plywood, sand it down and paint it white.

Then Stain your 1×2’s. I used Minwax Special Walnut and once that was dry I dry rubbed the gray milk paint over it to tone down the browns. (Set these aside until later)

While all that is drying we can work on the vinyl lettering. I designed the saying “This is Our Happy Place” in photoshop to the size of my wooden sign. If you want to use the exact one I have here you can download it here.

Once you have this image saved to your computer, or you have created your own, you need to upload it into the Cricut Design Space, and set it to a canvas the same size as your wooden board. You’ll also need to make sure you remove any white space between the letters so you are telling the Cricut to only cut out the black letters. It will prompt you to do this once you upload the design.

Because this image is larger than the cutting mat you will need to slice it in order to cut it out and reassemble on the wooden board. Do this by inserting a square or rectangle the size of your cutting mat into your design space (I like to make mine red so I can see better). In this case our mat is 12″ x 24″ and to be safe with the cutting size I made my rectangles 11″ x 23″. Keep copy pasting rectangles until your entire image is covered. 

Next bring your text layer to the front and begin slicing the image using the slice tool. Before you do this be sure and select both the text layer and the red box you will be slicing. You can do this by holding shift before selecting each layer.

After it has been sliced, move the box to the right and delete it. Then move the red that covered the text to the right and delete that as well. You can see in the screenshot below how I moved those to the side and was left with only the black letters that say “happy” and “happy” is now separated from the rest of the text layer. Continue this until you have sliced all your boxes.

Next your going to arrange your “slices” onto the 11×23″ cutting mat size in order to cut as much as possible on one mat. I ended up having to send it through 3 times, but I probably could have done it in two if I had arranged them properly. But when you are making snacks and lunch and trying to get 3 years olds to nap you just do the best you can! ; )

Now set your Cricut to all the correct settings for your materials and begin cutting out the text. Apply the vinyl (with the vinyl facing up) onto the mat, and begin to cut. Once it has been cut, use your weeding tool to remove the excess and you will be left with just the text. Repeat this step until all text has been cut and weeded.

After all vinyl has been cut, attach the transfer tape to the top of your vinyl, be sure to line everything up properly. Use the scraper to remove any air bubbles and ensure the transfer tape is securely attach to the vinyl lettering.

Once the transfer tape has been attached to all pieces, lay itusing the grid ensure your letters are centered both horizontally and vertically. If you need to mark this lightly with a pencil, you may do that.

Then peel off the transfer tape, making sure the letters come off the backing and remain attached to the transfer tape.

Then apply the transfer tape (with vinyl letters attached) to the wood according to your measurements.

Continue applying the vinyl until you have finished your sign. Once it’s all in place you can begin to remove the transfer tape, being gentle to make sure the vinyl adheres to the wood. I rubbed my fingers over all the lettering to make sure everything was properly adhered.

Once the vinyl has been applied you can attach the frame. Remember those 1×2’s? First attach the two 8′ pieces to the top and bottom of the plywood using a brad nailer and finish nails, keeping the backs flush (there will be an overhang on the front thus creating the frame).

DIY Large Wooden Sign – Find Those Studs

In order to hang this beast of a sign, we found the studs in our wall, and predrilled holes in the sign directly over those studs. Then we sunk the screw in just a bit, filled the hole with caulk, and painted over it. That way we know for sure this sign will never go anywhere! : ) If my dad taught me anything about building he taught me to make sure whatever I build can withstand a tornado!! This sign is now a structural necessity in this house, haha!

There you have it, an 8′ DIY Large Wooden Sign! It’s a beast and I adore it. The only thing is that after photographing it here I feel like since it’s right above the TV it looks like the TV is our happy place. That was definitely not my intention, lol! This wall just so happens to be in the center of our home, and it doesn’t look so focused on the tv when you see the whole room ; ) Little side note…. We actually cut out all electronics for our kids on school nights. Absolutely nothing, with very very very limited access on the weekends and I think everyone is quite happier!

So if you haven’t tried a Cricut Explore Air™ yet…. well, I’m hooked and can’t wait to keep using this bad boy in my DIY projects! See you soon friends!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.