DIY Hand Lettered Rudolph Craft
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Learn how to use the slice tool in the Silhouette design software to cut a vinyl stencil that is larger than your Silhouette mat for this hand lettered Rudolph craft!
I love Christmas.
It’s my favorite time of the year. And it’s not just because I get to put up my Christmas tree and blast Christmas music from sun up to sun down.
I also really love making things for Christmas. Whether it’s making my own Rae Dunn inspired ornaments or reversible wood signs that work for both Thanksgiving and Christmas I am all about those Christmas crafts. And this hand lettered Rudolph craft is just the next step in my Christmas craft obsession.
I kind of jumped on to the bandwagon a few years back and fell in love with calligraphy (like the rest of the world). I’ve been trying to teach myself how to do it but it’s hard. I have so much respect for anyone who does it and does it well.
I may also be a bit jealous of that skill. ?
And since everyone I know is into calligraphy and all things handmade right now I wanted to find the perfect hand drawn file to use for this project.
Etsy has become one of my favorite places to find unique files, and that’s exactly where I found the reindeer! I ended up loving the shop owners work so much that I bought multiple files to decorate our home with.
Commonly asked questions about this hand lettered Rudolph craft!
1. Where did you find this file?
This file is from The Smudge Factory on Etsy!
2. How big is the wood piece and where did you get it?
I highly suggest going to Home Depot or Lowes and having them cut a piece of wood for you. It’ll be cheap and if you have them cut up a large piece you can get multiple sizes and enough wood for a few signs!
I believe this piece was 18 inches by 24 inches.
3. How do you cut a large stencil that’s bigger than your Silhouette mat?
Use the slice tool!
I like to make my page as big as my wood piece in the Silhouette software and then make my design the exact size I want and need. Then I resize the page to the Cameo setting and slice the image until it fits on the mat.
Once you’re ready to put the stencil on your piece of wood just line everything up and start painting! It’s super easy.
4. How do you stop the paint from bleeding through the stencil?
It took a long time for me to learn this trick but once I did I wrote a whole post about it!
There are two ways to do it and both take an extra 5 minutes to do. I highly suggest going to this post and reading up on the technique so that you get crisp paint lines every single time!
Or you could just do what I did here and sand everything after it’s dry for a more “rustic” look to your piece!
5. How do you white wash wood?
Mix 2 parts white paint and 1 part water and then use a brush to paint on the wood. Have a small rag with you so you can wipe the paint off with it (in the direction of the wood grain!). Repeat brushing the paint on and wiping it off until you’re satisfied with the way it looks.
A few tips to help you achieve a better looking white-washed look:
- Make sure you’re brushing the paint on with the grain. Don’t go against!
- Fill a spray bottle with water and if you feel like your paint is too thick you can quickly spray it to loosen it up.
- Make sure to really blend in the paint at the end of your board. Paint typically gathers at the end of the board and if you don’t wipe it well you’ll see all the wipe marks.
This hand lettered Rudolph craft is:
- a little rustic,
- hand drawn, and
- so easy to make!
How to make your own Hand Lettered Rudolph Craft!
Hand Lettered Rudolph Sign
See how easy it is to make a stencil that is larger than your 12x12 Silhouette Cameo mat!
Materials
- Piece of wood (mine is 12x18)
- Wood Stain
- Paint Brushes
- Red Glitter
- Mod Podge
- Polycrylic
- Reindeer SVG file
Tools
- Silhouette Cameo
- Oramask 813 Stencil Vinyl
- Transfer Tape
Instructions
PART ONE: How to prep your wood and cut the svg file bigger than your machine!
- Stain your piece of wood and set it to the side while it dries.
- Download your Reindeer design from TheSmudgeFactoryLLC.
- If you own the Silhouette Portrait you can only cut designs as wide as 10 inches. Go ahead and size your design so that it's as wide as your cutting mat. If you are using a Silhouette Cameo, skip to step 6.
- Because the wood is much larger than the Silhouette Portrait cutting mat (and machine for that matter), I had to cut my design into three pieces so that it would fit on my wooden canvas. To do this, I used the slice tool and cut the antlers off of the reindeer.
- I then moved the face of the reindeer off my cutting mat and sent the antlers to cut.
- Next, send the body of the reindeer to cut.
PART TWO: How to piece your Hand Lettered Rudolph Craft stencil together and get the white washed paint look on your wood!
- Once both of your pieces are cut put a piece of transfer paper on top and piece the the three pieces together. You can see in the above picture where the ears and antlers have a small space in-between the face.
- Next, paint a very light layer of mod podge over the Hand Lettered Reindeer craft. This keeps the paint from leaking under your stencil.
- Mix some water and your white paint (1 part paint, 1 part water) and brush it onto your wood. Use a spare rag to wipe the excess paint/water away.
- You do not have to wait for the paint to be fully dry before pulling up your stencil!
- Once everything is dry paint a light layer of polycrylic over the entire board to seal it.
- Next, take a little bit of glue and put it over Rudolph's nose and the the four "beams of light" coming from it. Then pour red glitter on top until every piece is covered. I poured the excess glitter into the trash can (I didn't have much left over!).
Notes
If you have to cut your design in pieces, make sure you select your design and hit "Make Compound Path". Otherwise when you go to cut it the design will cut in a dozen small pieces. You do not want to waste your stencil material!
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This is too cute! I love the glittery red nose. What a cute touch
Can I ask what type of white paint you used? Is it just an acrylic craft paint?
Hi Val! I believe I used chalk paint for this craft, but you can use acrylic as long as you water it down a bit so it’s easy to spread on the wood!
Oh and by the way, I love it !!