How to Make Beach Day Vinyl Stickers - Cricut Joy Project
Make Cute Beach Day Vinyl Stickers!
There’s something positively magical about the beach—the sun, the waves, and the carefree vibes that instantly transport you to a place of relaxation and fun. And, if you’re like me, you want to carry that beachy bliss with you all summer long!
That’s why I created a set of 2-layered vinyl stickers inspired by some of my favorite seaside icons: a surfboard, a turtle, and an ice cream cone. These vibrant beach-themed vinyl stickers made with the Cricut Joy/Joy Xtra machine are perfect for adding a touch of summer to ball buckets, water bottles, notebooks, or even your car!
Join me here as I walk you through the process of making these fun and easy stickers so you can enjoy a little bit of the ocean everywhere you are this summertime!
Beach Day Vinyl Stickers Tutorial
These layered beach vinyl stickers are so cute and super easy to make! I used the Beachside Sampler pack available from Cricut and Amazon, and I love how the vibrant colors in the pack make these stickers pop!
Each layer is designed with lots of fun details and adds quite a bit of dimension to each sticker. I especially like the tiny sprinkles and curly swirl at the tip of the ice cream cone sticker - it looks so sweet and yummy!
These vinyl stickers are easy to make using a cutting machine like the Cricut Joy used in this project. However, you can easily use a larger version of the Cricut cutting machine by following the same dimensions and instructions for each sticker below.
Today, we’ll make all three stickers in Design Space, with detailed instructions in Part One. In Part Two, we’ll prep the Smart Vinyl sheets for cutting, and then Parts Three and Four will show us how to put each sticker set together.
All three designs are included in Template #002 (inside the Freebie Vault - see below) as SVG files that can be easily downloaded to Design Space.
Are you ready? Let’s start crafting!
Supplies List:
Cricut Joy/Joy Xtra machine (as shown in the project pictures, but any Cricut machine can be used)
Smart Vinyl Beachside Sampler for Cricut Joy (or similar colors in Joy Xtra Smart Vinyl) (I purchased my sampler pack on Amazon.com, but it’s also available through Cricut.com)
Cricut Transfer Tape compatible with Joy/Joy Xtra.
Brayer Tool
Scraper Tool
Weeder Tool
Tweezers
Paper Cutter or Scissors & a Ruler
A Blue Plastic Bucket or another sturdy surface to decorate with the Beach Day Vinyl Stickers - other suggested surfaces are plastic or metal water bottles, journal book covers, or even paper projects like banners or scrapbooking.
Template #002 is inside the Coffee in My Kitchen Freebie Vault. Enter the Vault HERE or fill out the form below to get the FREE password!
Part One: Creating the Vinyl Stickers in Design Space
Smart Vinyl Beachside Sampler Sticker Colors:
Surfboard - Tangerine & Teal
Turtle - Mint & Tulip
Ice Cream Cone - Coral & Tulip
ProTip: These vinyl stickers were created in a smaller size to fit the plastic bucket used in this project. However, if desired, the sticker cut files can easily be increased to fit a larger project!
Step One - Resizing the Sticker Images
Open a New Canvas in Design Space.
Upload the Surfboard Vinyl Sticker template to Design Space and add it to the canvas. Re-size the surfboard image to 5.5 H in the Size menu box.
Next, upload the Ice Cream Cone Vinyl Sticker template to Design Space and add it to the canvas. Re-size the ice cream cone image to 4in H.
Finally, upload the Turtle Vinyl Sticker template to Design Space and add it to the canvas. Re-size the turtle image to 3in H.
Click Save in the upper right-hand menu to keep and name the project. Then, click Make!
Step Two - Prep the Smart Vinyl Sheets in Design Space
Take the Beach Sampler Smart Vinyl pack and open it. If necessary, use a pair of scissors to carefully cut the plastic package. Separate the vinyl sheets and lay them out in order following the directions in Design Space (see the screenshot below):
Tangerine
Coral
Mint
Teal
Tulip
Back in Design Space, in the Mat side column, confirm that the Without Mat option is selected for each image's drop-down menu. View the image layout on the Review Artwork page, then click Continue.
Connect the Joy/Joy Xtra machine to Design Space.
Under Material Type, go to Browse All Materials, and select Smart Vinyl – Permanent. Feel free to bookmark the material box for later use!
Follow the instructions to load the fine-point blade and first Smart Vinyl color Tangerine into the machine. Click Go!
Allow the machine to align the vinyl strip, then click Go again to begin the cut!
Continue to follow the instructions to unload and load each color vinyl sheet into the Cricut Joy/Joy Xtra machine so the stickers will be cut in the correct order (Tangerine, Coral, Mint, Teal, and Tulip).
Step Three - Put the Vinyl Stickers Together
Once the machine is finished, take the vinyl sheets and carefully trim off the excess length of each sheet with a paper cutter or pair of scissors. Feel free to keep the extra vinyl sheets for more Beach Day stickers!
Take the weeder tool and tweezers and carefully peel off the excess vinyl layer around each sticker. Use scissors to cut away the excess vinyl while weeding to prevent it from sticking back to the main sticker design.
Next, trim two pieces of the transfer tape sheet to match the sizes of the two surfboard stickers. Peel and stick the transfer tape sheets on top of each surfboard sticker sheet.
ProTip: You can use only one piece of transfer tape and reuse it for each sticker. If you are using one piece of transfer tape, make sure to start with the bottom layer of each sticker set and then reuse the tape on the top layer of the sticker set AFTER you’ve placed the bottom layer on your project surface (see the project pictures below for reference).
Press and drag the scraper tool across the tape sheet, securing it firmly to the vinyl sticker.
Carefully peel the transfer tape away from the vinyl sticker liner. Use the weeder tool and the scraper tool to help peel the vinyl sticker sections away from the liner and stick them back onto the transfer tape sheet.
Repeat this step with the second vinyl sticker sheet.
Now, take the transfer tape sheet with the bottom layer of the vinyl sticker and carefully smooth it onto the surface of the object you’d like the sticker to be on (again, we used a blue plastic bucket for this project!). Use the brayer tool to firmly smooth the tape sheet to the object.
Carefully peel back the transfer tape from the vinyl sticker and use the brayer tool again to smooth and secure the vinyl sticker surface if needed.
Then, take the top layer of the vinyl sticker and line it up per the image design in Design Space.
Repeat the above steps to stick the top layer of the sticker set to the project object, peel away the transfer tape, smooth down the sticker, and secure it with the brayer tool.
Congratulations! You’ve created a fun and unique Surfboard Sticker to enjoy this summer!
Part Four - Finish Creating the Vinyl Stickers
Repeat the above steps to create the Turtle and Ice Cream Cone Vinyl Stickers and place them onto the project surface.
ProTip: Use the Weeder tool to carefully peel the tiny vinyl pieces away from the transfer tape liner and press them down firmly onto the sticky tape.
ProTip: Peel the transfer tape away from the bottom of the sticker to help keep the tiny vinyl pieces attached to the project surface.
Conclusion:
And there you have it—your very own set of beach-themed vinyl stickers, ready to add a splash of summer to just about anything! Whether you’re adorning your favorite water bottle or indoor ball bucket, decorating your notebook, or bringing a bit of the seaside to your car, these vibrant and fun stickers are sure to keep those beachy vibes alive all summer long!
Don’t forget to grab the SVG files from Template #002 in the Freebie Vault if you haven’t already, and feel free to get creative with your own designs. The Cricut Joy and Joy Xtra machines make it easy to personalize these stickers even further, so let your imagination run wild!