DIY Valentine’s Day Tic Tac Toe Board Game- How to Add Heat Transfer Vinyl to Wood
If you are new to xTool and laser cutters, check out my beginners guide to the xTool M1.
Valentine’s Day is coming up soon and it’s time to start thinking about the class parties that happen for it. It is actually the only class party that my kids’ school does. They don’t have class parties for any of the other holidays. It’s always been weird to me but since they only do a class party for Valentine’s Day, it’s an excuse to go all out for it! This little Valentine’s Day Tic Tac Toe board game would be great to have at the class party. They are so easy to make, you could easily make several of them and have them out on tables for kids to play during the party. One of my favorite things about the xTool M1 is that it has a laser and a blade, so with just one machine I was able to cut the wood and the heat transfer for this tic tac toe board.
Here is a quick video to show you how to make this Valentine’s Day Tic Tac Toe game.
This is how I made the Valentine’s Day Tic Tac Toe game board.
First thing I did was went to xTool Creative Space and designed the board.
You can get the XCS file here:
I clicked the shapes button and then added the rectangle with rounded corners. I used that for the outside of the board and the squares. I sized them and then spaced them evenly.
I went with a simple shape for the pieces, so I used the heart in the shapes. I did the same thing with the squares, I just put them inside of the squares. I then added one more big square, for the back of the board, and another heart, so there are 10 pieces total.
I added a sheet of 3mm bassword into the xTool machine. I placed it onto the triangular prisms.
I closed the lid and then rearranged the design onto the wood to fit. This is a layered wood project, so there are two cuts. The big square is the background and the one with the 9 squares goes in the front. I highlighted all of the of the design (except one heart, I put that to the side and cut it out of scrap wood) and then changed the settings to:
Laser flat
Material: 3mm basswood plywood
Thickness: .118 (that is preset, I didn’t change it)
Height raised: Triangular prism
I then clicked the cut button and used the automatic setting for 3mm basswood plywood. Then I clicked process, start and then pushed the button on the machine.
Here it is all cut!
I then separated the pieces from each other.
Here is all the wood separated and ready for the heat transfer vinyl to be cut and put onto the wood.
To cut the heat transfer vinyl, I put the blue mat into the machine and then added the heat transfer vinyl. I put the vinyl down with the plastic/shiny side down.
Once it was set up in the xTool machine, I then arranged the hearts onto the strip of heat transfer vinyl. I made the hearts the same size as the wood pieces, so I just used the same heart that I had in Creative Space. For heat transfer, you have to mirror the image before cutting it. I didn’t have to do that with the heart because they are the same shape mirrored. But if you were to have words, you have to mirror it. You do that by clicking the reflect button and clicking the horizontal button in the drop down menu. Once I got it all situated, I then changed the settings to:
Blade cut
Material: user-defined material
Cut pressure: 90 (I am using glitter heat transfer vinyl which is quick a bit thicker than smooth HTV)
Speed: 40
I then clicked process, start and then the button on the machine.
I then weeded the vinyl. I used two different colors of pink glitter vinyl. A dark pink and a pale pink.
Using an iron, I pressed the HTV onto the wood. I pressed it for about 20 seconds, took off the plastic and then covered it with a cover sheet and then pressed it again for 10-15 more seconds.
Here are all the heart pieces with the heat transfer on them. 5 dark pink and 5 light pink.
Using E6000, I then glued the top piece of the Tic Tac Toe board onto the background piece.
And that’s it! Super easy to do and so fun! You could do a variety of themes for the pieces. You could make shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day, eggs for Easter, snowflakes for winter and so forth. There are lots and lots of possibilities.
I love the look of the glitter heat transfer vinyl on the wood. It’s so pretty! You can’t go wrong with glitter for Valentine’s Day!
***Update: I loved the Valentine’s Day one so much that I made more!! I made pieces for St. Patrick’s Day and for Easter. I made these the exact same way as the hearts, just used different shapes and colors. I plan on making more for each holiday. I just made one board and then different pieces for the different holidays. ***
Here is the St. Patrick’s Day Tic Tac Toe board. I love how the wooden shamrocks look with the green glitter heat transfer vinyl!
Here is a close up of the shamrocks.
Here is the Easter Tic Tac Toe board. I decided to make it a striped Easter egg instead of a solid one and the xTool M1 cut it out beatifully!
Here is a close up of the wooden Easter eggs, they turned out so good!
Check out all the other crafts and projects I have made with my xTool here.
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