Engraving Acrylic With Cricut Maker – Easy Holiday Gift
Learn all about engraving acrylic with the Cricut Maker and how to make a personalized gift – an LED night lamp!
I have been having a lot of fun playing with acrylic sheets and rod. I love that when you put an engraved acrylic sheet on an LED strip, it lights up making it a beautiful lighted floating design.
When I discovered that the Cricut Maker could engrave acrylic, I knew it was something I had to try!
I think it makes an amazing personalized gift for anyone! Especially for kids as a night lamp. Plus, you can make multiple designs and easily switch them out!
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Materials Needed –
- Acrylic sheets
- Cricut Maker
- QuickSwap Housing with Engraving tip
- StrongGrip Mat
- Masking tape
- Cricut Design Space
- LED light base (I made my own but you can buy it pre-made too!)
- If making your own LED light base –
- LED light strip
- RF controller
- 5V power adapter
- 1×2 and 1×3 boards
- Table saw
- Jig Saw
- Drill
- Wood Glue
How Thick Acrylic Can I Engrave in the Cricut Maker?
You can easily use up to 2mm thick acrylic in the Cricut Maker to engrave. There are many precut shapes and sizes available that can be purchased. I used plexiglass sheets I bought from Home Depot and cut it to size I wanted.
How to Engrave Acrylic With Cricut Maker –
Step 1 – Set up Design
- In Cricut Design Space, create your own quote or load a design from the 1000s available in the library. resize the design to fit your template.
Important – Be sure to load the “Draw only” designs because they work best with the engraving tool.
- Select line type as “engrave” in the drop-down menu.
- When ready, select make it!
Step 2 – Prepare Mat
- Place the acrylic blank on the StrongGrip mat. Use the lines as a guide.
- Once centered, remove the protective film from the front of the acrylic.
- Apply masking tape around it to hold it in place.
- Load the mat into the Cricut maker. Make sure to support the mat so it doesn’t bend as that can pop up the acrylic.
Important – Move the star rollers to the side when before loading the mat.
Step 3 – Make It
- When you hit “make it” in Design Space, you need to center the design in the mat preview using the same method you used for taping the acrylic blank on the cutting mat. To do this – zoom in the mat preview and drag the image so that it is centered at the appropriate location vertically and horizontally.
- For the material, search for “acrylic” and select thick acrylic (2mm).
Step 4 – Engrave!
- Load the engraving tool in the machine
- Move the four white star wheels all the way to the right (VERY important)
- Load the mat and run the machine!
Let the Cricut Maker work its magic!
Step 5 – Unloading the Acrylic
- Once the mat is unloaded from the machine, carefully remove the masking tape.
- There will be acrylic dust and shavings from the engraving. You can use the masking tape to pick them up.
- You can carefully remove the acrylic from the mat and remove the protective film from the back as well.
Add to the LED light base and see the magic!
Step 6 – DIY Led Light Base
I built my own base using 1×2 and 1×3 boards because I wanted to make larger pieces but you can also buy pre-made LED light bases (be sure to use the correct size of the acrylic pieces).
You can see all the details for building your own LED light base in the video below.
That is it!
It makes a really great personalized gift for anyone!
It is the perfect night lamp for a child or a great addition to a desk. It even makes a great addition to a living room.
In fact, if you make it as a gift, you can make multiple engraved pieces that can be used interchangeably making your gift really unique!
More Cricut Projects –
- DIY Personalized coasters
- DIY Wood Slice Cake Stand
- DIY Wall Stencil
- 33 Personalized Gifts To Make With Cricut
- DIY Dishwasher Magnet
- 15 Creative Cricut Engraving Tip Projects
More Acrylic Sheet Projects
Engraved LED Night Lamp
How to make a personalized gift - an LED night lamp and building your own light base.
Materials
- Acrylic Sheets
- 1x2 and 1x3 boards
- LED light strip
- RF controller
- 5V power adapter
- StrongGrip Mat
- Cricut Design Space
- Masking Tape
Instructions
- In Cricut Design Space, create your own quote or load a design.
- Prep your Strong Grip mat and hit "make it" on your design.
- Load the engraving tool into the Circut, move all 4 white wheels to the right, load your mat and engrave.
- Unload the acrylic and remove the masking tape.
- Add to LED light base and watch the magic!
Notes
Materials and tools are listed if you want to make your own LED base. The video will show you step by step how to build it.
Anika's goal is to inspire and empower beginners with woodworking, DIY, home improvement, and home decor ideas.
She wants everyone to unlock their creative potential and experience the feeling that comes with making something. Nothing feels better better than seeing something and saying "I can make that!"
OMG, Anika, have you got enough tools! Seriously, a cricut thingie? Wow. It’s just amazing how much stuff you can do now. Did I see a scroll saw in your video – maybe its the jigsaw with a built- in base? That is awesome. I don’t put anything beyond your abilities! best regards,