How to Make Large, Die-Cut Style Letters Without a Cricut or Silhouette Machine

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Although I would dearly love a Silhouette/Die Cut/Letterpress type machine, alas, I have not gotten around to purchasing one yet.  But sometimes I need those kinds of cut-out shapes, like for the lettering on the feis bucket (tutorial from yesterday).

What's a girl to do without one of those clever devices?  Improvise!

First, I wrote my daughter's name in a word document, font size 200.  Then I printed it out on regular printer paper.  I used a pair of good scissors to cut out just the letters so I could use them as templates.

Once I had the printed template cut out, I flipped it upside down (critical!  Don't forget that part!) and traced around the edge on the back side of my patterend paper.

Use those sharp scissors once again to cut out the pencil-outlined letters and voila, you have gorgeous die-cut style letters, without having to buy a pricey machine.

Of course, I could have just gone to my local scrapbook store and used their fabulous die-cut machines...  but it's so hot here in Phoenix in the summer!  I did not want to spend one minute in that torture chamber of a car if I didn't have to.  Even with the AC going full blast, any car trip under 15 miles is a sweaty mess. I was perfectly happy to spend a few extra minutes doing fussy cutting in order to avoid that experience.

Nicole Wills, creator of Tikkido

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