DIY Word Search Sign: The Perfect Mother's Day Project for Crafting and Puzzle Fans

 Want to give your mom a special and heartfelt gift this Mother's Day? Why not try making a "Mother" word sign with your DIY cutting machine? With machines like the Cricut or Silhouette, creating custom signs is easier than ever before. Simply select your favorite font and design elements, choose your material, and let the machine do the cutting work for you. 

What do you need?

• Glass Picture Frame

• Vinyl (2 Colors)

• Transfer Tape

• Weeding Tool

• Scraper

• Painter’s Tape

• Scrapbook Paper or Hot Glue Gun

• Electronic cutter (cricut explore, silhouette or other cutter)

• Cut File – Mother BA1496 (available for free in my resource library)

What do you have to do?

Step 1: Download The SVG File

The first thing you’ll need to do is get the free SVG file you’ll use for this project.  I keep all the SVG files I use for the projects I make in my SVG Library. These SVG files work with Cricut and Silhouette machines, as well as many others. This library is open to everyone and some designs are free!  You can access the library here. It will be listed under the Mother’s Day category.

Step 2: Cut And tape Vinyl Design 

• Open the design in your software program.  This design consists of the word mother and the brush strokes. You’ll need to create your own custom word search. Once your create the word search, you’ll need to take a screenshot so you can import the design into your software. Once you’ve brought the word search into your software, you’ll need to do a trace to turn it into a cut file.  Then, you can resie it to fit on your piece of glass. You’ll also want to resize the word mother and the brush strokes so they cover the names you want highlighted.

  

• We are going to be putting the design on the back of the glass, so you’ll need to mirror (or reverse) the design. Then, you can cut out the two colors of vinyl. Weed away the excess vinyl from around the letters and brush strokes.

  

 

• Use a weeding tool to pull out the tiny pieces inside of the letters.

  

• Cut a piece of transfer tape and place it sticky side up on your surface. Then place the vinyl on top of the transfer tape and smooth it down.

  
  
  

• Rub over the design firmly with your scraper tool.

  

• Then, trim off the excess transfer tape and vinyl backing and cut apart the different sections.

Step 3: Apply Vinyl To Glass

• For this project, we’re going to be using the hinge method to apply the vinyl. Start by removing the glass from the frame and clean it with a lint free cloth and then let it air dry.

  
  
  

• Place the design on the center of the glass and put a piece of tape over the center of it.

• Use a ruler to make sure the design is straight and centered. Once it’s in place, press down on the tape.

• Next, you’re going to separate the vinyl and the backing from the right half of the design.

            

• Pull the vinyl over the tape and then cut off and remove the backing.

• Use a scraper to press the design down. You’ll want to start at the tape and push to the right.

• Remove the painter’s tape and the rest of the vinyl backing.

  

• Use a scraper to press the rest of the design down.

  

• Now, you can carefully pull off the transfer tape.

• Grab your brush strokes and place them over the names you want to cover so you know which strokes go where.

  

• Remove the backing from one of the strokes and position it over the name.

          

• Since these are brush strokes, they don’t have to be perfectly straight or centered. Just do your best to make them look good.

  

• Press the vinyl down with your scraper and then remove the transfer tape.

  

• Repeat those steps with all the brush strokes.

• When you flip the glass over, you’ll probably see lots of air gaps between the letters and the brush strokes.

• You can flip the glass back over and firmly press around each letter with your finger.  This should help to get rid of most of those gaps.

  

Step 4: Apply Vinyl To Glass

• There are a couple of options to finish this frame. You can either add a piece of scrapbook paper behind the glass and then put the picture backing back into place.
  

  
  

• Or, if you want a floating frame, you can break off the metal tabs.  Then, add hot glue around the edges of the frame

  

• and press the glass into place.

  

• And that’s it. This project is finished. Now, you have an adorable custom made gift for Mother’s Day!

  

If you found this post helpful, informative, or enjoyable, we would be grateful if you could help us spread the word! Sharing this post with your friends, family, and followers can help us reach a wider audience and make a greater impact. By sharing our content, you are also helping to support our mission of providing valuable information and ideas to our readers. We appreciate your support and thank you for taking the time to share this post.