It is time again for this month’s International Blogger Club Challenge (IBC).  This month the topic was Rock & Roll, we had to create something incorporating the theme in our project. I chose Elvis Presley because he is still the King of Rock & Rock in my eyes, he was the first person that popped into my head.

My first idea was to make an Elvis Presley tribute photo frame, but that would not be very Unique.  So this Elvis Presley Tribute guitar was my next idea.  More information about IBC at the bottom of this post.

How to Make an Elvis Presley Tribute Guitar

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Draw the guitar

I made many attempts to draw the guitar but all of them were a total failure because I can’t draw to save my life. My next idea was to contact a friend I knew had a guitar and ask to borrow it for a few minutes to draw the outline.  Lay the guitar on a sheet of craft paper and draw around the shape with a pencil. Next, you cut out the shape and use it as a template to draw the shape onto the wood. The tuning pegs for this guitar were at the back which did cause an issue with the tracing of the headstock but I planned to sort that out later.

I chose to use 12 mm plywood for this project so it would be light enough to hang on a wall. You can now place the template on the wood and trace around with a sharpie.

Cut out the guitar shape

Using a jigsaw cut out the shape of the guitar.  I cut the headstock square for now until I could work out how I wanted it.

Using an orbital sander and 120 grit sanding discs I sander the wood smooth.

Because I make my projects up as I go along they don’t always work the first time.  So I thought I would share with you what does not work as well as what does not. Originally I stained the guitar using dark mahogany stain and sealed it with 2 coats of satin polyurethane but this did not work.

Once I started to add the black vinyl decals you could not see them very well, because they blended into the mahogany colour. Next, I tried white vinyl, but strange as it sounds a silhouette does not look the same in white as it does in black. So Elvis did not look like Elvis anymore.

So I had to paint the guitar white and seal it again with 2 coats of clear polyurethane.  If you are using vinyl decals it is always a good idea to seal the wood because the vinyl sticks better to a smooth surface.

Creating the vinyl Decals

To create the vinyl decals you will need to use a Cricut or Silhouette cameo vinyl cutting machine.  There are many machines on the market but these are just the two I have used. The projects that you can create with these machines are amazing, they can take your craft projects to a new level.  Here are some of the projects I have made using mine.

I found all my image free on the internet, I googled silhouette images of Elvis Presley. Download the images to your computer and change them into SVG files using Inkscape which is free software on the internet.  Here is a tutorial on how to create SVG files. 

Once you have your images and resized them to the size and shape you want you can now cut them using your Cricut vinyl cutter.  Put some vinyl on your cutting mat and load the mat into the machine and the Cricut will do the rest. Once the decals are cut you can weed the image.  This means you remove all the excess vinyl you don’t want in your design.

Place you transfer tape over the decal and rub with a scraper to transfer the image to the tape. Next, you can place the decal on the guitar and rub with the scraper again, this will transfer the decal to the guitar.  Lastly, you peel back the transfer tape. Do this for all your decals.

Any wording you want to add can be typed up in a text box and cut in the same way as above.

Adding the photos

The photos were also found on the internet and downloaded.  You can print them onto photo paper for better quality. I was going to frame the photos at first but I change my mind because they took the focus away from the images.

You can glue the images in place using craft glue. For the “hole” in the guitar, I used a label from a vinyl record printed from the internet.

Decorating the vinyl record

I bought a vinyl record from a thrift store for $1 to add to the guitar because the fingerboard looked boring. I did try and cut it small but it kept snapping.  In the end, the only thing that worked was to sand it down using a benchtop sander.

I created another design in Cricut design space the size of the record.  And saved it as one design ready for cutting.  I used one large piece of vinyl to cut this design. For this design, you do a reverse weed by removing the Elvis detail rather than the excess vinyl.

The decal can now be transferred onto the record using the same method described above. The black from the vinyl record will create the silhouette. Again I used a label from an Elvis record for the centre.

How to make tuning pegs

I was totally stumped at first how I was going to make the tuning pegs but the idea hit me one night.  I was doing a steampunk mixed media project one night and I was making embellishment when I noticed the steampunk tap looked very similar to the shape I was looking for.

You can us a steampunk silicone mould and black hot glue.  Fill the moulds with the hot glue and smooth it over with a wet finger.  Any tatty edges can be cut away once the glue is hard.

To attach the tuning pegs you can drill holes in the headstock and glue them in place. It still looked a bit plain for my liking so I added one of Elvis Presley famous quotes.

To decorate the fingerboard to look more like a guitar you can make some more decals using your vinyl cutting machine.

Making the strap

The strap for the guitar was one of my husband’s old belts, I just removed the buckle. One side was screwed into the wood and the other was tied using some leather lace.

Completed project

And that is my Elvis Presley tribute guitar complete.

About IBC (International Bloggers Club)

If you follow my blog you will know I am part of IBC (International Bloggers Club) which is a group of talented bloggers from around the world. We have members from Spain, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Canada. Each month we come together and create a project in a common theme.

If you missed last month’s dreaded toilet paper challenge here is the link to my oriental canvas decorated with toilet paper.  The contributions from my fellow bloggers for this months challenge are listed below, please feel free to jump over and share your thoughts.

A crafty Mix | Repurposed Packing tape storage

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