Cricut: How to Make a Painted Bar Sign
Add a personal touch to your outdoor gatherings this spring by crafting a DIY bar sign to show off your full drinks menu! Featuring simple brushstrokes and a Cricut Vinyl overlay, this simple yet effective project transforms a plain frame into a stunning décor piece every guest will love.
Turning your drinks menu into a stylish décor piece is easy and perfect for beginners! Just get your Cricut machine ready and follow our step-by-step guide.
Project and instructions by Nerrisa Pratt.
Discover more Cricut ideas here andgt;
Please note: This project contains paid-for content from Cricut's Design Space app. Screen reference images are taken from the desktop version of Design Space. The Cricut Maker was used to create this project; however, this project can also be created using a Cricut Explore Air 2.
You will need
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Is $ 40.00
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Is $ 13.00
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Is $ 4.49
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Is $ 6.49
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Is $ 609.00
How to make
Open the Cricut Design Space app and start a new project, and click the text button. Enter your menu text and choose your desired font (We've used 'Double Whipped' here)
You can also add in a simple image too to compliment the text, this leaf border can be found by searching '#MA165C29' in the Cricut image library
Once you're happy with your text, we're going to make sure everything is evenly centred so it looks neat on the final project, to do this, drag to select all of the text and then in the top menu select 'Align' then 'Centre horizontally'
This will snap all of your text into place so you can transfer the entire cut vinyl onto your project without having to worry about it being even
Next, cut your design onto your vinyl, ensuring the vinyl is shiny side up on your matt – there's no need to mirror here
Weed the design, slowly and carefully, with smaller letters sometimes you can peel them off with the uncut vinyl, so it's best to check this as you go so you don't lose one as you're weeding.
Using your transfer tape, place this over your vinyl and using the scraper tool, ensure all the letters are stuck to the tape
When you're ready, place this on the frame and use the scraper tool again to transfer them onto the glass
Now your design is in place, we're going to paint the back of the glass underneath the lettering. To do this, ensure the glass is in the frame as the paint will make it tricky to get back in. Then, using your brush, layer up short, one-inch brushstrokes in your first colour. They don't need to be perfect at this point as they'll begin to blend together as you go
Once you have your first colour on the frame, begin adding more colour by colour, regularly turning the frame over to make sure the brush strokes are where you want them to be – on this version, they're in an oval around the text but you can go all the way to the edge if you prefer, just remember to using masking tape to protect the frame
When you're happy, leave the paint to dry for 1-2 hours on a flat surface. When it's dry, you can always add more layers to make the paint thicker or to fill in any gaps
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