Framed Christmas Signs

With Christmas fast approaching all the new Christmas crafts are rolling out. 

The one trend I noticed showing up on Pinterest on a regular basis was the red and black buffalo plaid fabric.  Not finding anything in my local stores I decided to make my own Christmas projects.  Framed Christmas signs were the first idea to pop into my head.  I also love the red Christmas truck which is also not as popular in Australia as in the US, so adding one into my frames was my first choice.

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I try and make something new for my home every Christmas. This year I wanted to make a shelf that would fit into the corner of my room and still pass as a Christmas tree shelf. And after Christmas it could stay where it was I could just decorate it in another way. It can become a thanksgiving, fall or even a Halloween shelf you just change the decor to suit the occasion.  

How to make framed Christmas signs

The buffalo plaid I used for this project was leftover fabric from an old shirt I cut up for my dog bandanna project. The frames were old photo frames I had laying around in a cupboard.  To make this project you will need a Cricut or a silhouette vinyl cutter if you don’t have one I would highly recommend the Cricut Explore Air 2 in a heartbeat.  These machines are a must for any crafter, the projects you can make with these machines are endless. Now I have finished telling you how much I love my Cricut lets get down to how to make this project.

Prepare the Frame

Take the back off the photo frame and glue your fabric to the back using an all-purpose adhesive.

When applying vinyl decals to glass items, it is very important to clean the glass first. If the surface is not free from dust and greasy fingerprints the vinyl decals will not stick to the glass. Rubbing alcohol and paper towels is a good way to clean the glass.

Making the vinyl decals

The Cricut which is the vinyl cutter I use comes with its own design program called design space.  This is where you create the designs.  For this project, it is as simple as opening up a text box and typing out the text you want. You can change the fonts and spacing of the text until you are happy. 

There are many types of vinyl on the market varying in price and quality. I use oracle 651 permanent vinyl and metamark M7 for most of my projects, they do cost a little more but they work perfectly each time. Smooth the vinyl onto the cutting mat with a felt scraper and load it into the machine for cutting.

Once the Cricut has finished cutting the vinyl, you need to weed the vinyl.  This means you need to remove the excess vinyl around the words. There are special tools for this but I prefer to use a cheap and cheerful craft knife.

How to transfer the vinyl to glass

To transfer the vinyl over to the glass you will need to use transfer tape.  A while back I made some glitter wine glasses and added for funny quotes and it took me hours to work out how to transfer it easily.  I prefer to only use Cricut transfer tape but this can be too sticky when transferring to glass and the vinyl will not stick to the glass. The way around this is to keep your old transfer tape and keep reusing it.  Over time it will become less sticky, and this is what you want.  Place the transfer tape over the vinyl and rub with the scraper so it sticks to the transfer tape.

Heat up the glass with a hairdryer for a few seconds, this will help the vinyl stick better. Place the vinyl on the glass and rub with the scraper, then pull off the transfer tape.  

Put the fame back together again.

Add legs to the frame

The idea was that the frames would stand by themselves on a shelf. I have just finished making a barn quilt headboard which is made up of lots of small pieces of wood.  Small wooden triangles which were left over from this project were perfect as feet for the frames.

I found a photo of the red Christmas truck that I liked and printed it onto photo paper, and placed it behind the glass. To finish the Christmas frames off I added a simple flower to the corner.

The flashing Christmas shadow boxes below were also made using the Cricut.

Looking for more unique project ideas to make with your Cricut.  Check out this mixed media cow skull. I added a ranch scene to the skull and gave it an embossed metallic look. 

Or this really unique Game of thrones lamp made from an empty Jack Daniels bottle.  Looking for more great craft and DIY projects check out my go-to websites for inspiration Favecrafts and DIY Idea Centre.

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