This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase through one of my links I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Last Updated on October 8, 2021 by Chris Butler
How to Make an Animal Print Door Hanger with your Cricut
Hello crafty friends! Today we will be making an animal print door hanger craft. I love these trendy door hangers and the animal print design makes this one SO cute!
Related: Easy Embroidery Hoop Door Hanger for Christmas
I’ve got a few different free SVG options for you including cow print and cheetah print (leopard print? is there a difference?)! There’s also 2 different layouts: a full animal print circle and a circle with a 4 inch space so you can personalize your greeting. You’re free to use these Animal Print Door Hanger Templates, more details below on how to get them.
Today I’ll show you how you can customize my pre-made designs in Cricut Design Space. Your options are endless!
Let’s get started!
Quick Links to Information in This Post
Supplies Needed for Animal Print Door Hanger
- 15″ wood round
- Oracle stencil film – https://amzn.to/3lFhqDs
- Oracle transfer tape – https://amzn.to/3CqZWkl
- Sponges – https://amzn.to/3lmPy6w
- Hot glue gun
- DecoArt acrylic black paint
- DecoArt Vintage Effect Wash paint in brown – https://amzn.to/2VsHhUK
- Mod Podge (to seal)
- Rope
- Beads (optional)
- Ribbon (optional)
- Cricut cut mat, 12″ x 24″
- Weeding tool
- Blue painter’s tape
- FREE Animal Print Door Hanger SVG file (more information on how to get this at the bottom of this post)
Animal Print Door Hanger Video
Step 1: Paint Your Wood Round
So, before we get started with our design, I want to paint our 15″ wood round. By doing this step first the board will have time to fully dry before putting our stencil vinyl on.
Of course, before we paint we have to clean our board with a dry cloth. Mine already had glitter on it just from sitting on my craft table – imagine that!
For the base of my board I used DecoArt Vintage Effect Wash paint in brown. I love this paint because once it dries it looks almost like a wood stain. The best part is that it dries super fast. If I had used a regular stain I would’ve needed to wait 24 hours before applying my design. Who has that kind of time? This paint also doesn’t have any harsh smells like regular stain does.
To get started, I’ll just squirt a little of this paint onto my board and begin to brush it out to coat the entire surface. Make sure to coat the edges too!
To coat a large board like this, I use a makeup brush rather than a paintbrush. The bristles are softer and tend to leave fewer brush marks than a typical paintbrush.
Once your board is painted we’ll move on to getting our SVG files!
Step 2: Load Design into Cricut Design Space
First, download the SVG file and upload it into Design Space. If you need extra help with downloading and uploading SVG files read this post.
You can get access to my free resource library full of SVG files here. Once you’re in the SVGs are in alphabetical order. Just click on the SVG you want and the download will automatically start.
Once you’re in Design Space, go to the bottom left corner and reduce the size of the canvas from 100% down to 50% so we will be able to see the whole design.
The board I’m using is 15″ in diameter. If you have a different size board make sure you change the size of the design with the size adjuster in the top menu.
Although I’ve given you some SVG files that you can use as-is, I want to show you how you can change those designs to customize your door hanger to look however you want.
Step 3: Customize Your Animal Print Door Hanger
First, from the shapes menu, create a square. To stretch the square into a more rectangular shape click the lock icon at the bottom left of the square.
Related: Make a Wooden Door Hanger with Your Cricut
I’d like to use the bottom half of my design, so I want to stretch my square into a rectangle that is more than 15″ wide and about 7.5″ tall. You can do this in the size menu at the top of Design Space or with the dimension line icon at the bottom right of the square.
Next, we’ll need to make sure the rectangle is matched perfectly to the top of our design. To do this, select the rectangle and the circle and select “Align Top” from the Align drop-down menu.
With both shapes still selected, click Slice at the bottom of the layers menu. Now you can see all the separate shapes the Slice command created. We don’t need any of the shapes except for the bottom half of the animal print circle so you can delete all of the other layers.
Now, click the make it button.
Step 4: Cut and Weed your Design
If you are using a 15” door hanger you will need to have a 24” cut mat. Design Space will notify you at the top of the screen to remind you.
Once your cut machine is connected select Stencil Vinyl from your materials list. If you have an Explore machine you can turn your dial to Vinyl. In my experience stencil vinyl doesn’t cut differently than regular adhesive vinyl. Although, it’s not quite as sticky as regular vinyl so you can easily remove it.
Now you’re ready to load your mat.
After your design has been cut, remove your material from the mat.
Before I weed I like to cut off any extra material around the outside of my design to use on future projects.
To weed, start by removing the outside edge of your stencil vinyl and work your way in, removing the cheetah spots from the design.
Next, I’ll get the transfer sheet ready.
Step 5: Transfer your Design
Now we’re ready to transfer our design. I like to use Oracle Transfer Tape because you can use it several times before throwing it away.
To apply the transfer tape to your design start by folding down a bit of the backing on the transfer tape and lining up the corners of your transfer tape and your design.
Once you’ve got that started you should be able to slowly peel the backing off the transfer tape with one hand while using your other hand or your scraper tool to press the transfer tape down to your design.
Now burnish the front and back of your design with your scraper.
Turn your design over and slowly start to peel the backing off of your vinyl design. Watch your design carefully to make sure you don’t lose little bits and pieces that don’t want to come off of the backing.
Your wood round should be dry by now. If it’s not, you may want to give it a few more minutes. If you don’t let it dry completely then you may have some issues with your paint peeling when you remove your stencil vinyl.
Once your wood round is dry, carefully line up your design to the bottom of the wood and press it down. Burnish the design to make sure there are no bubbles.
Now remove your transfer tape. Make sure you peel it back at 180 degrees instead of pulling it up and away from the design. This will help your design stay stuck in place.
Instead of getting rid of my transfer tape I’ll set it to the side to use later.
While I was peeling the transfer tape up my stencil vinyl got several large bubbles in it. This is probably because I was rushing to apply my design and didn’t make sure my board was 100% dry first. Before I go on I’m going to burnish the vinyl with my fingers to press all of the bubbles out of my design.
Step 6: Paint your Design
Now, because I want my board to stay brown on the top section I’m also going to line a piece of blue painter’s tape up with the top of my stencil. This will seal off the top of the board.
Once the tape is in place we’re ready to paint! For my design I’ll be using black DecoArt paint.
When I paint stencils I like to use a sponge. Dip the edge of your sponge into your paint and then dab off the excess paint. You want the paint to soak into your sponge but you do not want a blob of excess paint on your sponge when you’re trying to paint your stencil.
Tip: The #1 reason that stencils bleed is because there’s too much paint on your sponge or brush. You might be tempted to go heavier with the paint, but don’t do it! This method is worth it to not have to fix the bleeds on your stenciled design.
Dab the paint on your stencil until the entire design is covered. Since I’m using black paint, one coat should do the trick, but if you use a lighter color you may need to do several coats.
Another great reason to use this method is that the paint will dry quickly. So, when you’re done painting you can remove your painter’s tape and your stencil vinyl.
Tip: When you peel your vinyl off it is best to peel it against the grain of the wood. This will keep the adhesive from pulling up little slivers of the wood. No touch ups needed!
Step 7: Add your Greeting & Embellishments
Now to finish off this sign I’m going to again use some stencil vinyl to put the word “hello” just above my animal print design.
You’ll use the same steps above to place the design with transfer tape and paint it with the sponge method.
If your door hanger will be outside you may want to seal it with something like Mod Podge to protect the surface.
It’s also worth noting that if you aren’t a painter you could, of course, do this design in vinyl, but I love painted signs!
Now, for a door hanger you need a hanger (obviously!). I made a beaded rope for my hanger. To attach that I’ll just need to find the center of my design and hot glue the rope onto the back of the wood round.
I also made a bow to place at the top of my board that I attached with hot glue.
And now it’s finished! I love it and think this design turned out great. What do you think?
Don’t forget to sign up to get the free SVG files. Simply go here https://dailydoseofdiy.lpages.co/svg-library/ and fill in your first name and email address and we’ll send the link and password right over to the free resource library. All SVGs are in alphabetical order and you’ll find this one under “A” for Animal Print.
Thanks for crafting with me today!
Chris Butler has helped thousands of crafters learn how to use their Cricut machine without feeling overwhelmed. She is a best selling author and an up and coming designer. For fun Chris enjoys designing SVG Files, hanging out with her family (preferably at the lake), traveling, and volunteering at her church. She is a wife and mom of two crazy fun kids.
Sheree Prestridge says
On the cow print….what is your base color for board?
Chris Butler says
I think the color was called buttercream. It’s not a super white color.