How To Make Large Vinyl Decals With Cricut
Without a doubt, 1 of my favorite ways to update our rental walls is with skin-and-stick wallpaper. All the same, there are times when I am just not upwardly for the fourth dimension- or cost-investment of a full wallpaper installation…which is when I plough to one of my other favorite products: custom wall decals! These "wall stickers" are usually made from removable adhesive vinyl in any size, shape, color, and sheen. They tin be placed wherever you want to create either an organic display or unique design, and are actually super inexpensive AND elementary to make. Today I'm breaking down exactly how to make vinyl wall decals with a Cricut and so you as well can completely change the look of a room in just about an hr (yep…an hour!)
Oh The Things You Can Do…with Vinyl Decals!
One of my favorite things nearly making my own wall decals with a Cricut is that I can create a wide diversity of truly custom designs for our walls quickly, easily, and inexpensively. Rolls of vinyl are cheap, they come in millions of different colors, and the decals can be placed in a broad diversity of ways. In fact, with plenty patience (and vinyl!) yous tin can even create what looks like wallpaper but is really just a bunch of removable stickers!
Here are some amazing designs all made with vinyl wall decals!
Why DIY Your Own Vinyl Decals?
There are two major benefits to making your ain vinyl decals (rather than buying them pre-cut from a speciality shop): customization and cost.
Customization
As I've mentioned, vinyl rolls now come up in countless colors, sheens, and even patterns. With and so many options, there is a very adept chance y'all'll be able to find the exact color(due south) you want for your specific space.
Further, when fabricated with an electronic cutting car (such equally a Cricut Joy, Cricut Maker, or Cricut Explore), yous can literally make decals that await exactly equally you want them. Whether you lot want pocket-sized and simple or large and complex…single color designs or multi-layer creations…all i paradigm or a mix-and-match of graphics…the possibilities really are endless!
Price
In my mind,purchasing vinyl decals tin be fairly toll prohibitive…especially if you're trying to do a large wall or unabridged room. For example, this listing of xxx two″ bee decals runs $18; and there's a skilful chance a single set won't be enough (decals never get as far as you think they will!). A full wall or room could price well over $100.
In dissimilarity, the ii rolls of vinyl I used for our laundry room cost about $fifteen total with lots left over. Sure you have to put in the (one-time) cost of investing in a cutting machine; simply in fourth dimension, the cost savings of making your ain decals can be meaning.
Video Tutorial
Earlier I dive into the full tutorial in pictures, check out how truly quick and easy it is to make vinyl wall decals with a Cricut in this video below!
Supplies Needed
- Cricut Machine – This project can be done on whatever Cricut car, but I exercise recommend using either a Cricut Joy, Cricut Explore 3, or Cricut Maker 3 since they are compatible with Smart Materials (which will make this project even quicker!)
- Rolls of Vinyl in your desired color(s) – I advise buying more rolls than you think you'll need and returning leftovers.
- If using a Cricut machine that is uniform with Smart Materials, I recommend using Smart Vinyl for this projection. This will permit yous to cut more decals at a unmarried time which tin salve a lot of time, particularly when doing a large sticker installation.
- Weeding Tool
- Scraper
- Transer Tape
- Other Supplies – If doing a very precise sticker installation, you may too need a tape measure, level, and painter's record.
Step 1: Design Your Decal in Cricut Design Space
Merely like with every Cricut project, beginning in Cricut Pattern Space. Find a design for your wall decal in the Image Library or upload one you dearest. I chose this simple Honey Bee for its modern yet playful aesthetic, and sized it to most ii.5" broad.
Once you accept an prototype yous like, hit the light-green "Get in" push button.
Since you will need a lot of decals, adapt the Project Copies to a higher number (I chose 30). Just and so notice how much wasted vinyl in that location is when the copies machine-populate.
For big projects like this, y'all'll desire to salve every bit much time and material as you tin can. Let me teach you an easy fox to better utilize your materials.
Step two: Optimize Cutting Layout to Conserve Materials
To fit every bit many decals equally you tin can on a particular mat or length of vinyl, yous'll want to accept reward of the full available width:
- Cricut Joy machines: iv.5″
- Cricut Explore and Cricut Maker machines: 11.5″
Back on the pattern sail, duplicate your decal and play effectually until you observe an optimum layout that takes advantage of the full mat/material width.
For case: I duplicated the bee and fastened the two together. After ensuring the pair measured no bigger than 4.v" wide (the widest I can cut on Cricut Joy Smart Vinyl), I sent information technology to cut again.
This fourth dimension, y'all can now encounter I have a lot more bees on the same length of vinyl! Simply…in that location is still a lot of wasted space between each pair. Currently, Design Space tells me I need virtually thirty" of material for 12 sets of bees:
But by manually tightening upwardly the bees (but elevate and drop right on the Cut Preview Screen), I can now fit 12 sets of bees in 22" of material! This material savings will really add up when yous take lots and lots of decals to cutting!
Stride three: Cut the Custom Decals with Your Cricut Machine
Once you lot are satisfied with the layout of your decals on the vinyl, click "Continue," and you volition be prompted to select your material. Cull whatever vinyl you are using (or the best friction match).
With the material set up, yous volition exist prompted to load your textile either onto a cutting mat or directly into the auto (depending on what machine you are using). Simply refer to the on-screen prompts to guide you.
Once your fabric is loaded into the motorcar, y'all volition exist prompted to get-go the machine cutting.
Once complete, unload the mat/material from the machine.
TIP!Unfortunately, there is no way (currently) to save your specific arrangement on the Cut Screen within Design Infinite. So instead of exiting out after your kickoff cutting, I recommend running ALL your vinyl through your machine and cutting ALL the decals you recall yous'll demand, before clicking "Cease." This will relieve you precious fourth dimension not having to adjust the cut spacing every unmarried circular.
Pace four: Weed the Vinyl Decals
Once your decals are cutting, you will demand to remove the negative aspects of your pattern (the unwanted elements) using a weeding tool.
TIP! If you take a lot of decals with some intricate pieces to remove, settle in with a good Tv set show or Podcast and knock them all out at once!
Step 4: Pick Upward the Vinyl Decals
Next, you lot will demand to remove your freshly cut vinyl decals from the paper bankroll and so that y'all can stick them to your wall. There are two different ways to do this, depending on how intricate and large your decals are.
Without Transfer Tape
If your decals are fairly small and non as well intricate, you can likely pick them up but with your fingers. In fact, my bees were sturdy enough that I could peel them off the paper bankroll using the weeding tool (without fifty-fifty weeding!).
TIP! Using the weeding tool to "commencement" pulling up the decal off the newspaper can prevent the leading vinyl border from rolling under or wrinkling.
With Transfer Tape
Nevertheless, if your design is larger or has lots of asunder details, you will take much better luck moving it from newspaper to the wall (without bubbling or wrinkles!) with transfer paper. Although not hard, this procedure tin exist a little wearisome. Here's the gist of it:
- Cutting a piece of transfer tape just big enough to cover a single decal.
- Identify the transfer tape, gummy-side down, onto a single decal. Rub it vigorously with a scraper.
- Lift upward the transfer tape + decal combination off the paper bankroll.
If y'all need more help with this, head here: How to Layer Vinyl with Transfer Record
Step v: Employ Vinyl Decals to the Wall
The final step is to take your cut, weeded, and picked-up vinyl decal and place it on your wall! Based on the look you're going for, there are lots and lots of unlike ways to practice this.
Detailed Design
If you are trying to create a very precise pattern on your wall, you volition likely demand to decide and measure out out your spacing alee of fourth dimension. Here is a great tutorial that shows exactly how to practise that with a measuring record, painter's tape, and a pencil to marking decal locations.
Random Placement
Because I'm usually trying to keep things quick and like shooting fish in a barrel, I tend to employ a random placement method for our wall decals (only similar I did on this polka dot wall). To do this, starting time placing stickers wherever you want, and so continuously step back to check placement. Because these decals are essentially stickers, it'south easy to peel i upwardly and motion it to a better spot every bit needed.
Literally, in less than an hour, I had our laundry room decals designed, cutting, weeded and applied to our laundry room wall. Not simply practise I dear that I was able to create a wall design exactly as I wanted information technology; simply more so that this DIY project is so easy, cheap, and 100% removable!
Meet You lot Soon!
Megan
Source: https://thehomesihavemade.com/make-vinyl-wall-decals-with-cricut/
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