Creative projects involving SVG images are fast becoming one of the most popular crafts in the country. The most basic designs can look like they were professionally made, even if they have been created by a crafting beginner. No matter your experience with papercrafts or art in general, there are plenty of projects that you can get started on that will suit your skill level.

There are unlimited crafting possibilities when using SVG files, so let’s take a look at some of the most popular crafting ideas.

What is an SVG?

There’s a good chance that you will have stumbled across the term ‘SVG’ if you are part of the crafting community. Whilst some people may casually drop it into the conversation without a second thought, not everyone will have intimate knowledge of what it actually means.

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a file format that can be inputted into cutting machines such as a Cricut maker or Silhouette machine. This file format isn’t made of pixels like a vector image, which means that the images won’t get blurry if they are enlarged. You can adjust the image size to whatever you like and it will still retain the same quality.

There are unlimited SVG designs and images that you can purchase to use with your cutting machine. You can even find lots of completely free SVG cut files at Design Bundles, including seasonal images, text and patterns.

Top Seven SVG craft ideas

We’ve compiled a list of our favourite crafting ideas that you can create with SVGs. Continue reading to find out how you can get involved and make your own works of art!

Clothing

There are unlimited possibilities of how you can jazz up a plain t-shirt or hoodie. You can pick a slogan that makes you laugh or use an image of your favourite movie character to put a personal stamp on your wardrobe.

As well as making clothes for personal use, you can also use an SVG cut file on clothes as a great way to customise t-shirts for a group event, such as a hen-night or fundraiser. The designs can be applied to your clothing using various different methods. A popular use for SVG files is iron-on designs. Use heat transfer vinyl with your cutting machine to quickly and easily attach the design to the material of your clothing.

You can use the same method to create costumes for yourself and your family members. There are plenty of Halloween related SVG designs that can turn a plain black dress into a witches robe or skeleton outfit.

Wreaths

Who said wreaths were just for Christmas time? Whilst you can use SVG files to make a classic Christmas wreath, you could also make floral wreaths that can stay up all year round.

Use your cutting machine to cut out individual leaves and flowers that can be glued together to make a beautiful wreath. It can be as big or small as you like, depending on how much ‘foliage’ you decide to use. A polystyrene base can help you to position the card pieces and make sure that you have evenly distributed everything.

The wreaths can be made using colours that coordinate with your home furnishings, or with seasonal colours. Sunflowers and other yellow paper flowers can make pretty summer decorative wreaths, for example. You can find lots of inspiration and free SVG files online if you are unsure where to start.

Cards

Barely a month goes by when you don’t need to write a card for someone. Cards can be as much a part of someone’s celebrations as gifts are. Christmas, Birthdays and other occasions require a large stack of cards, so wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could make your own? SVGs can help you to handmake your own cards throughout the year and personalise them to the tastes of the recipient.

Pop-up cards have become incredibly popular over the past couple of years. Rather than a two-dimensional card, you could gift someone a 3-D card with a scene, word or character. They look incredibly effective and complicated, even though they are relatively simple to make.

Depending on the design, you may need to spend a little bit of time working out the proportions and measurements so that you score and assemble them in the right way. The easiest text for pop-up cards is capitalised san serif font, although you can use any font if you don’t mind it taking longer to construct.

Mugs

As a nation of tea-lovers, it’s little wonder that we all own mugs of various shapes and sizes. Personalising your mug is a great way to stake ownership of it in your house or in the office. Mugs also make an ideal present for a friend or family member, especially if their name is emblazoned on the side or with a picture of their favourite animal.

You can use your cutting machine to create vinyl lettering which can then be stuck onto the mug. Make sure to use waterproof vinyl so that you can wash the mug in between uses. It’s also a good idea to handwash your mug rather than use a dishwasher as the vinyl may peel or fall off entirely.

There’s no need to stop at mugs. You can also decorate glasses and water bottles using the same technique. Why not make yourself a matching set of all three?

Wall art

Nothing can make a blank wall more interesting than wall art. You can hang your favourite quotes from a film or book on the wall to give you daily inspiration. Graphics can also be incorporated into the theme of your room, such as images of teddy bears in a child’s nursery or paintbrushes in a craft room.

Wall art can be made with any leftover pieces of vinyl you have. Simply pick a design that suits the amount of vinyl that you have – this is a good time to start your creative thinking! You could also make a wonderful collection of individual designs to make one big image.

Use a frame for your wall art to give it a clean finish and to help protect it from wear and tear. It’s a good idea to measure your wall space before you cut the design or buy a frame so that you can ensure it fits and doesn’t look cluttered.

Paper cut decorations

Paper that has been cut into images and designs can be made into all sorts of decorations, such as garlands, shadow boxes or hanging decorations. They can be used to decorate a room for events such as birthday parties and christenings. You could also make decorations such as a chain of snowflakes for Christmas and hang them from the ceiling.

Paper decorations can be added to lampshades as the light will shine through the shape and project the image onto the opposite wall. This can be especially desirable for children’s rooms. You can either apply vinyl shapes or paper to the lampshade, although you will need to make sure to use an LED bulb rather than an incandescent one so that the lampshade doesn’t get too hot.

Gift tags

Decorating gift boxes with homemade gift tags is an extra way that you can show someone you have put a lot of thought into their present. You can use an SVG file to help make your own label with appropriately seasonal or themed images. Using SVG images will help to give your gift-wrapped present a professional finish.

Gift tags are one of the quickest projects to do when you are short on time but still want to make some crafts. You can search online for a basic gift tag outline and download your chosen text or image to decorate it.

There’s so many projects to choose from, but there’s no need to just pick one. Once you have discovered the wonders of SVG, the possibilities for craft projects are endless.