Welcome to Day 2 of my 25 days of Craftmas series! If you missed day 1, you can find it here. Today, I’m sharing another easy Christmas countdown project and this one is made especially for the kiddos. Kids can count down how many sleeps are left until the big day arrives.  This sign is easy to use, all the kids have to do is draw an X over each number with a piece of chalk. Once the season is over, you can erase the x marks and use it the next year. Read on for the full tutorial.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO

STEP 1: DOWNLOAD THE FREE SVG FILE

The first thing you’ll need to do is get the free SVG file you’ll use for this project.  I keep all the SVG files I use for the projects I make in my SVG Library.  These SVG files work with Cricut and Silhouette machines, as well as many others.  This library is open to everyone and is free!  You can access the library here. Look for the file called Sleeps until Christmas. It will be listed under the Christmas category-25 Days of Craftmas 2019 – Day 2.

STEP 2: CUT AND TAPE VINYL STENCIL

Start by measuring your chalkboard to determine what size you’ll make the design.  Import the design into your cutting software and size accordingly.  Add a rectangle around the design to create a stencil.

Do you need more help with creating a vinyl stencil?  Check out these posts.

How to Make a Vinyl in Cricut Design Space.
How to Make a Vinyl Stencil in Silhouette Studio

Cut out the design and weed away the excess vinyl.

Cut a piece of transfer tape just a little large than your design.  Place it over the vinyl and rub over the design with an application tool to help the vinyl stick to the transfer tape. Then, trim off the excess transfer tape. Rub over the entire design with a scraper

Remove the vinyl backing.  I like to flip over the design and pull the backing away from the vinyl.  This way, the vinyl doesn’t curl.

 

STEP 4: APPLY VINYL STENCIL TO CHALKBOARD

Place the vinyl stencil on the chalkboard.  Match up the straight edge of the stencil with the straight edges of the sign. Rub over the vinyl with the scraper.

Carefully remove the transfer tape.

Rub over the design one more time with the scraper.

STEP 5: FILL IN THE STENCIL WITH PAINT

Fill in the stencil with a liquid chalk marker. I love these chalk markers because they look a lot like chalk but they’re semi-permanent.  You can get it off, but it takes a bit of work. So, it’s perfect for this sign because the kiddos can use regular chalk to cross out the numbers and the liquid chalk shouldn’t come off when you erase.

I filled in my stencil by tracing around the outline of the number or letter and then I went back and filled in the middle.

Once you’ve filled in the entire stencil, let everything dry for 5 or 10 minutes. Once it’s dry, pull off the vinyl stencil.

Use a weeding tool to pull out the centers of the letters and numbers.

That’s it! Isn’t that a fun sign? I’m planning on making several of these so each of the littles can have their own!

 

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Want to make your own? Get the free cut file for this project in the resource library

 

 

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