Creating personalized signs is as fun as it is easy with sign vinyl. Apply sign vinyl to wooden panels and plaques to make the perfect gifts that will hang on their walls for many years to come. In the spirit of Memorial Day, here is how you can make a patriotic-themed sign.

Materials Needed:

Sign vinyl (red, blue) 
Wood panel/plaque

Application tape
Vinyl cutter
Weeding tool
Squeegee

Step One: Choose Your Design

The first step to creating your own customized sign is to select your design. You can create your own, or there are plenty of free designs on the internet that are available for personal and commercial use. After you’ve decided on your design, open the file in your preferred cutting software. Choose the trace option and trace the entire image. Once the lines are created, you can remove the actual clipart, leaving just the outlines.

Design in Graphtec Studio cutting software

Step Two: Preparing to Cut

When cutting multiple colors of vinyl, it’s best to assign colors to your lines within your software and then cut by line color. This action will allow you to cut all sections that are blue at the same time, then all sections that are red, and so forth. This will also save you time when transferring the vinyl to the wood panel, as you can simply adhere all blue sections at once, then all red, etc. In this design, the stars and the word “freedom” are colored blue and the stripes are colored red.

Choose the appropriate cut setting. The cutting standard will depend on your cutter and condition of your blade. You can use the same cut force settings as standard heat transfer vinyl.

Note: Do Not Mirror! Before you send your vinyl to the cutter, double-check that you have NOT mirrored your image. Unlike heat transfer vinyl, the image that you cut is how it will look as a finished product.

Step Three: Cut & Weed

Load your vinyl into the cutter with the glossy, colored side up and begin cutting. After you’ve cut your vinyl, weed/remove the excess vinyl. A weeding tool is highly recommended for this, especially for intricate designs.

Weeding

Step Four: Transfer to Application Tape

Place your application tape on top of the sign vinyl and burnish with your squeegee. Then, pull the application tape away, transferring the vinyl from its paper liner to the application tape itself, thereby exposing the sticky adhesive of the sign vinyl.

Transfering sign vinyl to application tape with squeegee

Step Five: Apply to Wood Surface

Place the application tape carrying the vinyl onto the wood panel and burnish with your squeegee. Pull the application tape away - your vinyl will have adhered nicely to the wood panel, leaving you with a complete and finished sign!

 Pulling application tape away from wood panel

Wood panel with memorial day sign vinyl

And that's it! We hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day as we reflect and give thanks to the brave individuals who gave their lives protecting the freedoms and liberties we enjoy today.

Celebrate Memorial Day with Sign Vinyl