How to Apply Vinyl on an Acrylic Blank
Welcome to day 2 of my 12 days of Cricut Christmas Crafts. Today we are going to apply vinyl on an acrylic blank. This is a super quick and easy project that can be done in multiples and last minute. I love quick projects. I’m all about that instant gratification.
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Acrylic blanks are fun to work with. They come in so many shapes and sizes. They have various uses – Christmas ornaments and key chains, to name a few. They are also relatively inexpensive.
You can purchase acrylic blanks from a number of places online including Amazon, DHGate, as well as buy-in groups.
The great thing about acrylic blanks is that they look like glass, but don’t break like glass. So something that will have a bit of rugged use, like a keychain or something that could potentially fall, like a Christmas ornament – these acrylic blanks are the best!
I got a number of acrylic blanks and set to work making different Christmas ornaments. It’s really easy to apply vinyl on an acrylic blank. It’s pretty much the same way you’d apply vinyl to anything. Check out my post on all about adhesive vinyl for general tips.
When you receive the acrylic blanks, there will be an adhesive sheet covering both sides. This is just to protect it. Be sure to take it off BEFORE applying the vinyl.
In addition to my post on adhesive vinyl, you’ll also want to know these things for applying vinyl on an acrylic blank.
- Use adhesive vinyl, like Oracle or Avery. I’ve never tried heat transfer vinyl but to be honest I don’t know why I’d bother. I use permanent vinyl. Don’t forget to peel off the protective layer.
- Mirror your image. Make your image backwards and apply it to the BACK of the ornament or key chain. That way when people look at it and invariably touch it – they’re not actually touching the vinyl directly. They’ll just be touching the acrylic blank. Even though you are using permanent adhesive vinyl, it can only stand up to so much touching.
So you’ll notice that when you apply the vinyl, it appears backwards.
- Make a template for round ornaments to help centre your vinyl graphic. Here is a simple template I made that I keep with my round ornaments. Notice that I’ve added both a centre vertical and horizontal line to help me centre my graphic.
While this may seem like a simple craft, the sky’s the limit. You could incorporate various colours or graphics. Sometimes the simplest things are my favourites – I’ve said that before. Sometimes the simplicity of an item can be the most beautiful.
These make great personalized ornaments for babies, pets or in loving memory. The keychains would make great personalization tags.
Thank you for the idea. Do you seal the backside (the side containing the vinyl) so it doesn’t peal up at all? If so, what do you use? I’m just thinking of a key chain being tossed into and bouncing around inside of a purse or a pocket.
Hello! I don’t seal it as I use permanent adhesive vinyl. Also, these were used as Christmas ornaments and so they would not really be coming into contact with something abrasive. That said, I have permanent adhesive vinyl on a number of things as decals (stainless steel, walls, doors and glass) that I haven’t sealed and they are fine so I’m not really sure that it is necessary. Hope this helps. Thanks for the question.
hi can anybody help i have a cricut explora3 and im trying to do my daughters tarten onto a acrylic plain disc how can this be done lol
Hello. Sorry but I do not have any experience with the Explore 3, but I imagine it is somewhat similar in terms of application. I imagine the tricky part would be finding the actual tarten pattern. It be easier then to have that pattern custom printed on to some adhesive vinyl.
Will the wall quotes you buy at Hobby Lobby stick to plexiglass?
I’ve never personally worked with HL plexiglass, but I don’t see why not.