This post contains affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Read my full disclosure policy.HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED
- 3- 5.5″ x 8″ Wood Blocks (I used 2×6’s)
- Paint and Brushes (I used white black acrylic paint)
- Sand Paper
- Ribbon and Jute
- Vinyl (Color Doesn’t Matter)
- Transfer Tape
- Application Tool
- Transfer Tape
- Weeding Tool
- Electronic cutter (cricut explore, silhouette or other cutter)
- Cut File (available for free in my resource library)
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 Valentine Words. It will either be listed under the most recent projects/cut files or under the Valentine’s Day category.
STEP 2: PREPARE WOODEN BLOCKS
Cut the wooden blocks down to size and sand them so they are nice and smooth. Then, paint all the blocks white. You’ll probably need to do 2-3 coats of each color to get complete coverage.
To give the blocks a bit of a distressed look, lightly sand the edges. You’ll want to sand off enough of the paint that you start to see some of the natural wood peeking through.
STEP 3: PREPARE THE VINYL DESIGN
Now that the blocks are prepped, it’s time to get the vinyl ready. Open the design in your software program and size it to fit on your project. You might need to ungroup before you can resize.
For this project, I resized the set of 3 words to be approx. 4″ tall. Then, I ungrouped the words and added a 1.5″ x 4″ rectangle around each word 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
I used Oracal 631 for the stencil, but you can also use Stencil Vinyl.
When everything is sized correctly, you can cut the stencil with your Cricut or Silhouette. Once it has finished cutting, weed away the excess vinyl. Since this is a stencil, you’ll want to pull out the letters and leave everything else.
Cut a piece of transfer tape a little larger than the design and place it over the vinyl.
Rub over the top of the vinyl with a scraper.
Then, trim off the excess transfer tape and cut apart the words.
STEP 4: STENCIL THE WOODEN BLOCKS
Now, it’s time to apply the vinyl stencil to the blocks. Flip the design over and pull off the vinyl backing.
Place the design on the right edge of and block. Match up the straight edges of the stencil with the straight edges of the top and bottom of the block. Then, press the vinyl into place.
Rub over the design with a scraper to help it stick to the wood.
Then, pull off the transfer tape and rub over the design one last time. Repeat with the other two words.
Paint over the stencils with one more coat of white paint. This is to help prevent bleeds.
Once the paint is dry, fill in the stencil with black paint. For this project, I used a stencil brush. I used an up and down motion and just did one coat of paint. Some of the letters were completely filled in and others had some white showing through. It’s kind of a distressed-looking finished without having to sand.
When the paint is dry to the touch, carefully pull off the vinyl.
Use a weeding tool to pull out the small pieces.
STEP 5: WRAP THE BLOCKS WITH RIBBON AND JUTE
Add a dab of hot glue on the top of one of the blocks.
Place another block on top and line them up so they are straight. Repeat with the last block.
To finish off the set of books, wrap a piece of ribbon around the blocks and use hot glue to keep it in place. Make sure to glue in on the bottom of the blocks.
Then, wrap a piece of jute around the blocks sign 3-4 times and tie in a bow.
That’s it! Now all you need is a place to display them.
Thank you!