I love making stenciled wood signs with my cutting machine. It’s so easy to turn a few plain pieces of wood into something amazing with just a little bit of paint and vinyl. Today, I’m showing you how to make this framed wood sign for St. Patrick’s day using your Cricut or Silhouette. Read on for the full tutorial.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

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 Shamrock Seeds. It will either be listed under the most recent projects/cut files or under the St. Patrick’s Day category.

STEP 2: PREPARE YOUR WOOD SIGN

To make this sign, you’ll need 3 pieces of wood for the sign that measure 3.5″ x 10.5″.  You’ll also 4 pieces of wood for the frame (2 – 10.5″ pieces, 2 – 12″ pieces). I used pine for the sign and firring strips for the frame.  Sand all the pieces so they are smooth.

Paint the frame pieces green. You might need 2 coats to get good coverage.

Paint the slats for the sign white. You’ll probably need 2-3 coats.

 

STEP 3: PREPARE THE VINYL DESIGN

While the paint is drying, let’s get the vinyl ready.  Open the design in your software program and size it to 9″ x 9″.  To create a stencil, add a 10.5″ x 10.5″ box around the design. Center the design inside of the box.

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

Make a copy of the big shamrock and paste it next to the square.  Then, mirror the shamrock. You might need to ungroup the design before you can copy just the shamrock.

When everything is sized correctly, you can cut the vinyl with your Cricut or Silhouette. For painted signs, I like to use Oracal 631 or Stencil Vinyl

Once it has finished cutting, weed away the excess vinyl. You can use a weeding tool to help you remove the vinyl.

Cut apart the two designs. We’ll be using the shamrock later.

Cut a piece of transfer tape a little larger than the design and place the vinyl on the transfer tape.

Use an application tool to rub over the back of the design. Then, trim off the excess transfer tape.

 

STEP 4: STENCIL THE SIGN

After the white paint on the slats is dry, it’s time to apply the vinyl design. Line of the slats so they are even on the sides.

Flip the design over and carefully pull off the vinyl backing.

Center the design on the slats. Line up the straight edges of the stencil with the straight edges of the slats. Rub over the vinyl with a scraper.

Slowly remove the transfer tape.

Rub over the design one last time with a scraper to help it stick to the wood. You’ll want to make sure the vinyl is pushed right up to the gaps where slats meet.

Paint over the stencil with one more coat of white paint. This is to help prevent bleeds.

Once the white paint is dry, fill in the stencil with black paint.

Once again, you’ll probably need to do 2-3 coats.

When the paint is dry to the touch, carefully pull off the vinyl stencil.

Use a weeding tool or craft knife to pull out the small pieces inside the letters.

STEP 5: ATTACH FRAME

To attach the frame, start by nailing the top slat to the right frame piece. Line up the top edges of both pieces so they are even. I think it’s helpful to place the sign pieces on some extra wood to raise them up a bit.

Next, nail the bottom slat into place. Line up the bottom edges of both pieces so they are even.

Then, attach the middle slat.

Now, you can attach the left side of the frame.

Then, attach the top and bottom pieces.

STEP 6: ADD MOSSY SHAMROCK

My friend Brandee made this adorable mossy shamrock sign last year.  I loved the dimension it gave the sign, so I decided to add a similar mossy shamrock to this sign.  She used this peel & stick moss sheet, but I used this one I found at Dollar Tree. It’s not nearly as full as hers, but for a buck, how could I complain?

Remove the vinyl shamrock from the vinyl backing (no need for transfer tape, just pull it off like a sticker) and place it on the back of the moss sheet.  Cut around the shamrock.

These sheets are really fragile and some of the moss will probably come off while you’re cutting.  If a lot falls off, you can always glue it back in place.

When you’re done cutting the moss sheet, add some hot glue on the center shamrock.

Then, place the mossy shamrock on the sign.

And that’s it, now you have a cute sign to display for St. Patrick’s Day.

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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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