Second hand stores are a wealth of inspiration and a treasure trove of supplies if you look a bit past what the objects in the store currently look like, and can be the source of all sorts of thrift store craft projects. Like this Wi-fi password sign. I bought a cutting board, and with the help of my trusty Cricut Maker machine, I’ve turned it into a piece worthy of my guest room. It seems there is nothing a little vinyl won’t do!
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This particular sign was made with a cutting board–but I think it would also work well with a small cookie sheet or an old thrifted frame. Browse your local thrift stores and see what shows up! It’s all part of the adventure. It doesn’t matter the size of the board/sheet/frame. You can adjust the graphics in Design Space to fit whatever treasure you might find.
The Wi-Fi Password Sign
In days of old, we had many many guests roll through our guest room. It seems that inevitably, the question always comes up pretty soon after the guests arrive, “What is your Wi-Fi password?” I love the idea of a sign permanently placed in the guest room that lets everyone know what it is.
And when the time or place comes to change the password, we’ve got it covered, because this Wi-Fi password sign is made out of chalkboard vinyl! Chalkboard pencils are brilliant and the perfect thing here for penciling in our deets.
Thrift Store Crafts: Wi-Fi guest sign
Materials
- Cricut Chalkboard Vinyl
- Cricut Premium White Vinyl
- Cricut Transfer Tape
- Thrifted Cutting Board
- Acrylic Paint
- Painter's Tape
- Chalk Pencil
- Wi-Fi graphic file
Instructions
Prepping the cutting board for up-cycling
The nice thing about using thrift store items for a Cricut project is that you feel a little good about doing some recycling and not buying some thing brand new to craft with. I popped in and out of thrift stores looking for a universal item, and cutting boards seem to be readily available just about everywhere. We're going to paint first so it has time to dry while we do our Cricut magic.
You can give the board light sanding if you’d like (but I did not). It's the correct way to do it, but sometimes, y'all, I'm just lazy. I skipped ahead and started prepping my cutting board by taping off a little more than half of the board with painter's tape. I ran my finger over the tape several times to make sure it was good and sealed to the wood so no paint eked through.
The pretty teal paint is from Plaid and called Vert Patina (#2951)--put on a few coats to cover your board. Pay special attention to the edges as they are what will be seen and the finished project. Peel up the tape while it's still wet if you can.
Setting up your design space file
The graphic that I used in this project is available free as part of your Design Space subscription so I can't take credit for that cuteness! To set up the Design Space file for cutting, you'll first want to measure the thrifted cutting board you're using. Keep those numbers handy.
If you're not using the supplied file, find a rounded edge rectangle in Design Space's clip art and insert it onto the canvas. You'll need to resize the rectangle to be a half an inch smaller than the size of the board. My board is 6x9in, so my rectangle is 5.5x8.5in.
After your rectangle size is set, resize the Wi-Fi graphic to fit the rectangle. Get your vinyl ready on your sticky mats, then get cutting! I used chalkboard vinyl and white vinyl for this project. But feel free to be creative!
After the images are cut, weed so they are ready to apply.
Assembling your Wi-Fi sign
This part is crazy easy. I did not use transfer tape to put the chalkboard rectangle onto the cutting board. Rather, I peeled up the top edge of the Rectangle off the paper, aligned it onto the board, Then continue peeling the paper off the back of the rectangle as I stuck it to the board.
A little transfer tape and rubbing is definitely necessary for the graphic in white! Be patient, and use the back of your weeding tool to rub the vinyl off me transfer tape so that it sticks to the chalkboard vinyl when it is being fussy.
And you’re done! Now, I plan to use this board as a leaning sign. (I took a picture frame and slapped to the back.) but, it’s also suitable for wall use. You’ll either have to drill a hole to hang it from, or add hanging brackets to the back.
If it’s your style, some fancy bows at the top the sign would also be cute! A chalkboard pencil is perfect for writing in your network and passwork on your sign.
More thrift store craft projects: