DIY Personalized Christmas Truck Ornament with the Cricut Maker

Capture the iconic symbol of the holidays with this personalized Christmas truck ornament gift idea. Make them in bulk to have on hand for last minute gifts you may need!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

I have to admit that I get warm and fuzzy inside when I give someone a gift that I made and they love it and can’t believe that I made it. In a world that’s so Amazon-centric (don’t get me wrong, I love Amazon!), there is nothing more special and heartfelt than hand making a personalized gift for someone… something made just for them.

Creating custom and personalized gifts is one of my favorite things to do with my Cricut Maker (see my other favorite things to do with it here!) There are so many materials that can be cut and so many images and projects in Cricut Design Space that are super easy to customize. There’s no fear of giving someone a duplicate gift when that gift is handmade and personalized, right?!

Since I’ve been on a major wood cutting spree, this year I decided to make personalized ornaments for gifts and even cut a bunch of extra wood Christmas truck ornament blanks to have at the ready to personalize when I need a gift for someone. The vintage red truck has become such an iconic symbol of the coziness and family of Christmas so I love the idea of gifting that symbol. I made 2 different styles, so take your pick, both are super easy to make!

How to Make Personalized Christmas Truck Wood Ornament with the Cricut Maker (2 styles)

Supplies

• Cricut Maker
• Strong grip mat
• Vintage Christmas Truck cut file
• EasyPress 2/EasyPress Mini
• EasyPress Mat
• Knife blade
• Fine Debossing tip
• Basswood
• Silver Metallic Poster Board
• Patterned Iron on – Rustic Lodge sampler
• Silver foil Iron-on
• Craft adhesive
• Ribbon or twine
• Small bottle brush tree (optional)

Instructions

Iron-on the buffalo check pattern from the Rustic Lodge sampler to the basswood before cutting. No weeding necessary for this type of application. Just cut a piece of iron-on to the size needed for the Christmas truck ornament and apply it to the wood with liner side up using the EasyPress 2 and EasyPress mat. Check out the EasyPress heat guide for all material and time settings.

Note: When cutting wood that has iron-on material applied to it, lay the wood flat with a couple of heavy books on top of it for an hour or so so  that it doesn’t curve from the heat of the EasyPress before cutting.

Open the Vintage Christmas Truck cut file in Design Space and customize the personalization. To cut the basswood, switch out the fine-point blade for the knife blade. Secure the basswood onto the strong grip cut mat with masking tape around the entire piece of wood with the patterned side up. Slide the star wheels to the right and make sure that your wood is no longer than 11″ wide. Cut.

You’ll see that the file has 3 cut outs of the Christmas truck. 2 are to be cut out of wood (for the front and back) to give a thicker appearance and one will be used for the foil poster board that will be glued to the back piece of the vintage truck design.

For the other side of the ornament, I used one of the new Maker tools, the Fine Debossing tip to imprint a plaid pattern onto foil poster board. Guys, this looks like engraved metal! The effect is amazing! I intially thought of this design just so that when the ornament flips around on the tree (like they always do!) it wouldn’t have just a plain wood back, but the back is so pretty I’m not sure which side I love most! Make sure that the Christmas truck and the debossed pattern are attached before cutting. Design Space will direct you when to switch out the blade/debossing tip.

Cut your personalized text out of Silver foil Iron-on (remember to mirror!)

Woo hoo! I got to play with my new little toy, the EasyPress Mini! I never knew how much I needed this until I used it. It’s so perfect for pressing small areas so that you’re not pressing an entire surface twice when layering iron-on (like this design does). That means less chances to scorch the underlying material or blank that you’re ironing on to. And besides the precise placement, isn’t it just so cute? 😉

Glue the 2 trucks together and lay a heavy book on top of it while it dries to keep the wood pieces flat. Once dry, glue the debossed foil poster board onto the back of the vintage Christmas truck ornament and and once again place a book on top of it while it dries.

Attach a ribbon or twine and your gift is ready to go!

For an alternate style, I glued a small bottle brush on top of the truck. Which way do you like best?

Does someone come to mind who would love a personalized Christmas truck ornament? Even if you can’t think of someone now, it’s still a great project to make so that you have some custom gifts on hand when the need arises… much more personal that grabbing a bottle of wine on the way (not that I don’t do that more times than I’d like to admit 😉 )