How to use Vinyl Lettering on a Piece of Tile for a Decoration in Your Home

Make this painted tile "speak" with vinyl letters.

Vinyl letters are a popular home decorating item because they are inexpensive and easy to apply. Use vinyl letters for creating wall art, making signs, displaying messages in car windows and much more. They stick to just about any smooth surface: wood, glass, plastic, laminate, metal and tile. Make and display a decorative tile plaque to add a personal touch to your home.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Plastic spatula, wooden craft stick or old credit card

1. Gently clean dust and dirt from a 12-by-12 ceramic tile with a clean, lint-free cloth. If you use a damp cloth, completely dry the tile before proceeding.

2. Pre-measure the location of each letter with a ruler and mark it with a pencil.

3. Place the sheet of vinyl letters on a flat, hard work surface and rub over the letters you will use with the edge of the plastic spatula so that they adhere to the sticky transfer sheet.

4. Remove the white backing so you are left with the letters on the transfer tape. Keep the sticky tape from touching anything.

5. Lightly hold the sticky tape over its place on the tile. Once it touches the tile, it is stuck for good ... so pay attention to your pencil markings and be sure of its position before pressing the letters to the tile.

6. Rub over the letters once again with the plastic spatula to make sure the entire letter is transferring onto the tile surface.

7. Peel away the transfer tape slowly, paying close attention. If a letter is not transferring in one piece, stop peeling, carefully place the tape back over the tile and rub it again with the spatula until the whole letter releases from the tape.

Tips & Warnings

• Roll the sheet of letters until you are ready to use them. Folding the sheet may damage the letters.

• Once you have placed your sticky tape on the surface, you will not be able to remove it without damaging or losing some of your vinyl letters; so make sure you place the transfer sheet in the right position.

• Damaged letters usually cannot be fixed. Your only option is to start over with a new sheet of letters.

References

• Vinyl Craft Lettering: FAQs