How to Apply Vinyl Straight on Acrylic Panels

Today I’m sharing another acrylic sign décor project and how I made it.

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Start by gathering your supplies.

Here is a list of the supplies used to create this project:
– Oracal 651 adhesive vinyl in the following colors:
Black, yellow, green, blue, light blue, red
– Oratape MT80P application tape
– Acrylic Panel or sign
– Wood stand (optional for panel)
– Acrylic Paint in your color choice
– Paint brush with bristles
– Paint palette (optional)
– alcohol wipe
– weeding tool
*Note: the acrylic sign I used in this project was from Michaels but is no longer available
These techniques can be applied to any acrylic sign blanks you might find.

Designs & Fonts used:
– Christmas Lights svg by Art Boutique Butterfly
– BFC Magic Marker Print Font by Blush Fonts – Design #396584

Next, measure the size of the blanks and write down measurements.

Paint backside of acrylics if desired to make it pop.

Using drawing tools to create a shape to use as a template with the measurements taken.

Add your design within the template and adjust as you see fit.

Using shapes as your template helps to visualize the available space you have for the design on your blank and see how might look. I use shapes as templates often in my designing and they also make a great weeding box too!
Check out these other tutorials HERE to see how I use shapes all the time as templates.

I don’t know about you, but most times, the most time consuming part of creating a project for me is choosing a design. I ended up creating a design with a combination of things I had seen.
I used both a design and a font style to create this sign.
– Christmas Lights svg by Art Boutique Butterfly
– BFC Magic Marker Print Font by Blush Fonts – Design #396584

Draw rectangles and align with the edges of the template to use as alignment tools for aligning on the acrylic blank.

Thanks to Barbara Foster with Let’s Go Silhouetting for this tip!
I used alignment boxes for layering vinyl and lining things up before, but taking a class with Barbara at the All Things Silhouette virtual conference in 2022 was a light bulb moment (no pun intended) to use this when lining it up to make sure it was absolutely straight on acrylic blanks.

Arrange the design to be cut.

I arranged it so that I could cut all of the pieces of the design in all colors on 1 Silhouette mat and 1 time sending it through the machine. I use this technique for all materials I cut.

Look for a step-by-step video tutorial on this coming soon to the Silhouette Secrets+ YouTube Channel!
I’ll update this post with a link once it’s ready.

Weed your vinyl design and then apply to the acrylic blank. I used the rectangles drawn for the layering marks to line it up with the straight edge of the acrylic sign.

Check out the new video on my Silhouette Secrets+ YouTube channel on the application of this design HERE.

And check out this recent post on Creating Fall Decor with Oracal 651 HERE.

Acrylic signs are something that have been very popular the last few years and can be used for all seasons and occasions.

Check out this post HERE for 10 more ideas of what you can create.

I would love to see what you are creating with your Silhouette software or machines!
Feel free to post on my Facebook group at
Silhouette Secrets with EllyMae.

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