LED Pet Memorial Plaque

Pet memorial

Recently my future Daughter in Law had to say goodbye to her beloved dog Mollie due to cancer.  Mollie had been a treasured member of the family for many years, so her passing was very heartbreaking for the family.  She was always there, whether you were happy, sad or even on the Loo to offer unconditionally love.  So to honour her beloved Mollie, I wanted to make her a Pet Memorial Plaque as a keepsake and a tribute to their time together. I thought it would be more personal than a photo in a frame in her lounge.

Pet memorial

The idea for this project was inspired by a LED headphone stand I made a few years back. I knew from that project that the combination of the perspex and LED lights would look great.  Once the lights are switched on, the colour from the lights projects through the perspex giving off a stunning effect. The lights can be static or flashing with a few colours to chose from.

 

How to make a pet memorial plaque

**This post may contain affiliate links. Which means I earn a small commission on links used at no extra cost to you. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.**

I wanted the base to look like steps with the memorial plaque on the top.  To make this project I used scrap wood from an old drawer front I had lying around at home. I started by sanding all the old stain and varnish off the wood using an orbital sander and 220 grit sanding disc.

Pet memorial

The wood for the memorial plaque was cut to the following sizes.

  • 1 x 280 mm x 170 mm
  • 1 x 210 mm x 100 mm
  • 4 x 60 mm x 60 mm

For a better cosmetic look, I used a router with a round-over bit to remove the corners from all the pieces of wood.

Pet memorial

Not too sure what wood this is, but I knew I did not like the colour. Dark mahogany wood stain is one of my favourite colours for wood, so I went with that. I stained all the wood before they were glued together, it is just easier and you get into all the nooks and crannies. The smaller piece of wood is added to the larger one first.

Pet memorial

I did not want to wait for the glue to dry so I added some nails to the bottom to hold the wood in place so I could carry on with my project. I did stain the next piece of wood before I glued it together.

Pet memorial

Cutting the groove for the perspex

I hindsight I should have cut the groove into the wood before I glued the pieces together, but the process is the same.  The centre of the wood was marked with a pencil on the bottom of the wood. I used a table saw to cut the groove, but a router can also be used.

Pet memorial

The blade was set to the depth of the groove that was needed.  I made two passes on the table saw to get the correct width of the groove needed for the perspex to fit inside.

Pet memorial

To position the feet correctly I marked the wood with a pencil and glued the feet in place and secured them with nails from a nail gun as above.  My wood looks messy because it is recycled but you will not see this in the final product.

Pet memorial

The stand was sealed with 2 coats of spray polyurethane.   You can use any finish I just chose spray because it dries quickly and I am always impatient.

Pet memorial

Making the photo frame

The frames can be bought from Amazon, I got this one from my Sister who makes wedding bouquet memorial charms.  I found a suitable photo of Mollie and printed it on photo paper.  I used Diamond glaze glue to seal the picture behind the glass.  On my first attempt I did use Mod podge, but it smudged the ink in the image.

Pet memorial

Creating the design using a Cricut vinyl cutter

To create all the text and the design of the plaque I used a Cricut Explore Air 2 vinyl cutter.  These machines are incredible and have so many uses if you are into crafting and DIY home decor. The Cricut has its own easy to use design software. It is as simple as typing out your text and choosing the font you want.  The graphics used in this project were all free from the clipart library.  Once you are happy with the design it can be cut out into the vinyl.

Pet memorial

Cricut also has a large range of materials that would work great for this project, I chose to use a self-adhesive bronze foil. If you own a Cricut you will understand all the paw prints around the design.  This is to use up the foil so it is not wasted. Load the self-adhesive foil onto the cutting mat and let the Cricut do its job. I have found working with the foil that you do need to tape the foil to the mat to prevent it from moving during the cutting process.

Pet memorial

Next, weed the design which means removing all the excess foil you don’t want in the design.

Pet memorial

This is how the design will look after you have weeded it.

Pet memorial

Transferring the text to the  Pet memorial plaque

To transfer the foil decal you need to use transfer tape.  The tape is placed over the design and rubbed with a scraper until the foil sticks to the tape and peels off the backing paper.

Pet memorial

The foil is placed in the position that you want on the wood and rubbed with the scraper.  This will transfer the foil onto the wood.  The transfer tape is then peeled off. Repeat this step with all the images.

Pet memorial

This is how it will look after it has been transferred.

Pet memorial

Cutting the perspex to size

For this project, I used 6 mm perspex which I cut to size using a jigsaw.  To remove the rough edges left by the jigsaw, you can use a 320 grit sandpaper to smooth the surface. It is a good idea to leave the protective film on the perspex as long as possible to prevent any marking on the perspex. The size of the cut perspex was 205 mm x 185 mm.

Pet memorial

The text was transfer to the perspex using the same transfer method described above. To glue the photo disc to the perspex you can use a multi-purpose glue like E6000.

Pet memorial

Adding the LED lights

You can use a strip of LED lights which are place in the slot for the perspex. Because the lights were self-adhesive I was able to just remove the tape and push them into the slot.

Pet memorial

The wires from the lights can be unsightly so you can hide them by drilling a hole in the stand and pushing the wire through.

Pet memorial

The perspex plaque sits on top of the LED lights, which will shine through the perspex when switched on.

Pet memorial

Just a footnote about cleaning the perspex if you do get fingerprints on the surface.  Do not use Windex or any other abrasive cleaners. Warm soapy water and a microfiber cloth will work great.

Pet memorial

I hope you like my LED Pet Memorial Plaque, please feel free to leave a comment and share this post.

Pet memorial

Remote control LED pet memorial plaque

I recently lost my own beloved Jack Russell named diesel and my sister made me this super cute memorial candle. 

Looking for more project ideas to make you furry friend using your Cricut check out these cute Bandannas.

Dog Bandanna

Or see how I made this super cute succulent terrarium using rubber bands.

Succulent terrarium

If you are looking for any of the items used in this project, please consider using our links. By clicking on the links we will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us come up with new and exciting ideas to share with you.

Pet memorial Ideas

 

You Might Also Like

21 Comments

  • Reply
    Karen, the next best thing to mummy
    March 9, 2020 at 8:41 pm

    Loosing a beloved pet is heart breaking, This is a lovely tribute to a family member #anythinggoes@_karendennis

  • Reply
    Michele Morin
    March 9, 2020 at 11:03 pm

    What an amazing project!

    • Reply
      Anita Holland
      March 10, 2020 at 11:47 am

      Thank you so much, it was really fun to make.

    • Reply
      Claire
      March 10, 2020 at 3:41 pm

      What a loving tribute for her furry friend

  • Reply
    Michelle Leslie
    March 11, 2020 at 1:27 am

    This is so very special Anita. What a beautiful way to remember our fur babies who cross over the rainbow bridge <3

    • Reply
      Anita Holland
      March 11, 2020 at 2:46 pm

      Thank you Michelle, It was hard to make because I have a dog that is really sick at the moment and we are going to have to make the hard decision soon. 🙁

  • Reply
    angie
    March 11, 2020 at 2:49 am

    To many of us our pets are like our family members and deserve to be memorialized in such a way
    thanks for sharing come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

  • Reply
    Dee | Grammy's Grid
    March 11, 2020 at 3:22 am

    What an awesome gift, love it!! I’m sure she will treasure it. Thanks so much for linking up with me at my #UnlimitedMonthlyLinkParty 10, open March 1 to 26. All entries shared on social media if share buttons installed.

  • Reply
    Pamela
    March 13, 2020 at 12:26 am

    What an amazing gift! You can see how much love went into this. So impressed with your wood skill too!

    • Reply
      Anita Holland
      March 16, 2020 at 3:16 pm

      Thank you so much, I am a big dog lover and woodworker.

  • Reply
    #SeniSal Roundup: Mar 9-13 ~ Esme Salon
    March 14, 2020 at 3:31 pm

    […] LED Pet Memorial Plaque […]

  • Reply
    Margaret Birding For Pleasure
    March 15, 2020 at 5:56 pm

    What a lovely thing to make in tribute to your pet who died. Have a wonderful week ahead and stay safe from the virus.

  • Reply
    Cecilia
    March 18, 2020 at 10:04 am

    What a sweet idea! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!

  • Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.