How to Perfectly Center a Large Vinyl Sign

Summer is coming quick which means the pool will be open soon! My favorite time of the year! Having a new Cricut Maker this year certainly made me want to make a sign for the pool area. Searching Pinterest, I found this saying and began designing my own large pool sign. Let me show you how to make it and get it perfectly centered.

I had a piece of 1/4”plywood that measured 9 1/4 x 18” therefore it was the perfect size for my sign!  First I painted it flat black with spray paint.  Next I thinned some chalk paint with water by about a third and mixed it well. Then start painting it on and wiping immediately with a rag or paper towel.  Paint and wipe until you have the desired effect of a whitewashed board.

That was the easy part! Now onto the design. Being my first layered project plus bigger than mat project, I didn’t know exactly how I was going to do this so I went to my trust Facebook group and asked the members to help me. I also scoured Pinterest and YouTube for help.

First I purchased. 24” blue mat to cut the project on. Then in design space I made a small rectangle boxes and duplicated it 4 times and place them under the life rings on my design. These will help keep everything lined up. See lower right of photo, the blue image.

Once they are in place i grouped the entire design and duplicated it 3 times. Select one design at a time, ungroup and deleted what needs to go on each copy. Group each design together and attach it. Do this for each design.

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Click make it and check your mats that they are set the correct way for your design. Move anything that will save vinyl and continue with the cutting part of the project. Fill each board with the  vinyl you want to cut in the correct place on the mat. Cut your first two layer and put them together by matching up the boxes at the bottom to complete the life rings and keep everything in line. Below the top left photo shows the placement for the black layer of the design.

I use clear contact paper from the dollar tree for transfer tape. It is perfectly good and a lot cheaper. So since I need 2 big pieces it just obviously makes good sense to use it. Plus it is 18” wide, just what I need! Now for the first part I cut a piece 7 1/2 x 18” and put it on the black design and removed it from the mat. Roll the piece of transfer tape backward before removing the transfer tape cover. This helps take the curl from being on the roll out. Carefully line up the boxes on each side of the brown rope design and remove the transfer paper.

Using transfer paper the exact size of the board, cover the red design and peel it off then once again line up the boxes to complete the design. Burnish well on each side and peel the design off for its final transfer.

Now starting at the bottom of the sign board, line the transfer tape up from end to end. Begin carefully smoothing the design down trying to avoid any bubbles in the design. Once on the board burnish it well and peel the transfer tape off of the board.

Tada! Whew! In conclusion, I’m pretty proud of my large sign and the way it turned out. Just follow these simple steps and create your own pool sign or design of your choice. So this method will ensure perfect centering every time. Now what are you going to make? Please Share your ideas and photos below. Happy Crafting!