Welcome Fall Wood Pumpkin Sign

Did you know you can apply vinyl wording to uneven surfaces as I did with this Welcome Fall Wood Pumpkin Sign?

Okay, so I just thought I was done with creating neutral Fall decor, but I came across this cute wood pumpkin I found at Target when I was putting away my Fall stuff. Oops! I remembered that I wanted to make it into a sign, but because the surface isn’t smooth and level, I think I put it to the side, unsure of how that would work with my Cricut.

Well, I figured it out (see below) and I think this Welcome Fall Wood Pumpkin Sign turned out really cute. If neutrals aren’t to your taste, this would also look super cute in more traditional Fall Colors or even black. Let’s see how easily you can make one, too!

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Welcome Fall Wood Pumpkin Sign Materials

• Blank Wood Pumpkin Sign
• Cream Colored Vinyl
• Transfer Tape
• Cricut Maker
• Light Grip Cutting Mat
• Weeder Tool
• Scraper Tool
• Scissors
• Precision Craft Knife

Welcome Fall Wood Pumpkin Sign Steps

1: Open a new project in Cricut Design Space. Search Cricut Access to find “welcome fall” word art you like. Resize it to fit inside of your wood pumpkin.
OR, I used an SVG I got as part of the Splendid September Bundle on Hungry JPEG, but you can search on there for fall sayings and find great ones for cheap.

If you’re not sure of how to upload images from outside of design space, on the left side menu, click Upload > Upload Image > Browse > then select your image from your computer’s files. Then click Simple > Continue > Continue > Save. Now you’ll be back at the original Upload Page. Select the image you just uploaded then Insert Images.

2: Cut out the word art on your Cricut on some vinyl in the color of your choice. I used a pretty cream color that looks nice with the rest of my Think Pink Neutral Fall Decor and blends well with the wood of the pumpkin. Be sure to select the vinyl setting and it’s not necessary to mirror the image.

3: Weed the negative space from your cut vinyl, leaving just the lettering. This particular vinyl was super easy to weed, thankfully, and came off mostly in one sheet. Most of the word art files are designed to not have orphaned letters or letters that have separated pieces. Watch out for that if you decide to just type out “Welcome Fall” in Design Space.

4: Carefully apply transfer tape to the vinyl lettering, smoothing out any bubbles as you go, using that scraper tool. Then burnish (rub) the edges of all of the letters with it to make sure they’re sticking to the transfer tape. 

5: Slowly lift the white backing off the vinyl letters, making sure the vinyl is sticking to the transfer tape. If any pieces aren’t sticking, just reapply the white backing and burnish it a little more. You definitely don’t want the vinyl pieces to fall off or slide around when you’re applying them to the sign.

6: Position the transfer tape over the wood pumpkin, making sure it is centered and level. You also want to watch where the letters sit on the splits in the wood since you will be slicing those areas later. Gently set it down onto the wood, smoothing it down from the center out. Burnish the letters onto the wood with that scraper tool very well.

7: My wood pumpkin wasn’t level, it had two raised pieces, so I had to take a precision craft knife and slice both the transfer tape AND vinyl along the edges of each panel of wood. If your pumpkin just has wide splits and isn’t uneven, you can still slice it where needed so the vinyl isn’t straddling an open space. If your pumpkin is perfectly smooth, congrats! You can just apply the vinyl as usual.

8: Once the strips of vinyl are all cut, burnish the letters onto the wood, panel by panel, then carefully peel off the transfer tape. Make sure all the little bits and pieces of the lettering stay on the sign. Don’t be afraid to help the vinyl come off the transfer tape if needed. 

That’s it! I was slightly intimidated to try and stick the vinyl onto an uneven surface like this, but it turned out to be pretty easy to compensate.  It was a little nerve-wracking to slice the vinyl with the knife, too, but once a cut one small section, I realized it would be pretty easy to cut. I just made sure to use the edge of the wood to keep my cuts straight. Did I accidentally cut into the wood a couple of times? Maaaaybe. But who cares? You can’t tell at all. Okay, now I’m done creating Fall Projects for this season, for sure. I have my mind on Halloween now and even Christmas, too!

This Welcome Fall Wood Pumpkin Sign will be easy for you to recreate, even if your wood pumpkin surface isn’t smooth.

Be sure to check out my other coordinating Fall Cricut projects like my pretty Welcome Fall Cricut Shadow Box

Welcome Fall Cricut Shadow Box

and also my fun Wood Fall Leaf Ornaments.

Wood Fall Leaf Ornaments

I encourage you to view my complete Fall Home Tour where you can see my whole gallery wall and how I used non-traditional pink, gold, and cream to decorate my home.

Fall Home Tour 2020

Would you like to see some more gorgeous home decor Cricut projects? I’ve teamed up with 9 other crafty bloggers for our monthly Craft & Create Cricut Challenge to show you how you can make your own lovely goodies with your Cricut!

Fall Paper Leaf Wall Hanging / Wooden Pumpkin for Fall- Larger Than Mat Cricut / Felt Flower Grapevine Wreath / Chipboard Pumpkin / Wooden Fall Leaf customized with Cricut / Quick & Easy Fall Banner / Welcome Fall Wood Pumpkin Sign / How to Cut Die Cuts for Your Planner / Halloween T-Shirt