Hi Foxy Friends! I've been meaning to put together this post for a while now, and I figure, new year, new me, new posts.
Sorry about the coloring, when I did this, there were a lot of fires in California and it turned the sky orangish/red.
I made a video of everything I'm about to show you, so if you're more of a watch and learn someone else doing it, this video is for you. Else keep reading to see pictures on how I put this together.
What You'll Need:
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Corrugated Plastic (4' x 8'), I also got a 3' x 6' but couldn't find it online), here is another option but a bit more expensive if you can't get a 4'x8' sheet in your car and this one delivers it, so there's the ease of delivery.
Note: Corrugated plastic is what you see on lawn signs/for sale signs, it's plastic and weather proof and has a space to put metal stakes to stick in the ground.
30 inch H Stake (used for letters in the back)
17 Inch H Stake (used for letters in the middle)
4 Inch Pins (used for the letters in the front)
Vinyl (the exact one I use, it's permanent and weather proof) - You're going to need about 4' x 12" of vinyl per letter
Box Cutter set (this is the exact one I used)
Crafting pick I use
Cricut I Use
Quilting Ruler (it's 24 inches long, so it's going to be great for this project to help you cut your letters straight with the box cutter)
Directions:
Step 1 - Create letters in design program (Design Space for Cricut or Silhouette Studio for the Cameo), you're going to be creating an off the mat project. The next set of directions is specifically for Cricut. Create your letter, I put two letters in each file, but you can choose how many go in each.
Cricut only allows me to cut 11.5" x 23.5", so I made sure the height of my letters is no bigger than 23.5"(I picked my letters to be 23" high), and the width is no bigger than 11.5". As you can see my first half is 10.152" and the length does not exceed the 23.5". So the letter "O" will print in two pieces, and the letter "T" will print in 3 pieces. I made the letter "T" because I felt that having to make up the two short ends would be a lot easier than having to try and match the whole length of the "T".
Step 2 - Use the contact paper, and transfer first letter, sticky side to the color side of the paper. For ease of applying such a larget letter, attach 1" of contact paper on solid surface, then place letter under it, and roll the contact paper on letter using the squeegee (see minute 7 of video).
Step 3 - Using two straight sides of the corrugated plastic (so you only have to cut two sides), carefully place down vinyl, see minute 10.22 of video to see me doing this. Use the squeegee to get as much air out as possible. This is going to be something that you get better at the more letters you do. I think by letter 7 I had it down, and by letter 15, it was easy. Trust yourself, and sometimes you just have to go for it.
Note: When placing the letters on the corrugated plastic make sure to place the letters so that they are parallel with the grooves in the corrugated plastic. Basically, think about how you are going to put your stakes into the sign, to place in the ground, so you want to make sure your letters are facing the correct direction.
Step 4 - Cut your letter to size. I used this quilting ruler to help get straight lines. For the smaller angles, I was able to use scissors.
For the times that you miss, and the letters don't line up, just cut out extra vinyl to cover the spots. In all honesty, no one can see those small mistakes unless you are right on top of the sign, and even then the letters are so big you can hardly tell, even when you know the mistake is there.
Step 5 - Continue making letters like this. The letter will stop at this bar in the picture below. You want to make all the letters even. So take note of the width of the H stakes you got, and where they are going to hit on the letter. Some of my letters, I needed to keep the middle of the letter so that when you put the H stakes in the letter, they are all even when you stick them into the ground.
Step 6 - Put letter on your lawn! I would suggest to lay the down on the ground first, and then stick them in the ground so you know you have enough room. I've done this twice now, the first time I laid them out, the second time I went for it and had to adjust the Birthday word by a foot or so...oops!
