Blue i Style - Creating an Organized & Pretty, Happy Home!: {diy with style} How to Create Sophisticated Superhero Art with Cricut

Thank you guys for all of the love and sweet comments on our recent makeover of the boys' bathroom! I am super passionate about finding ways to balance my love of modern style with mom-life, and I'm always striving to create kid spaces that can grow with them and won't need to be completely redecorated again next year.

All of these factors were at play when the boys asked for a superhero themed bathroom. I loved the challenge of giving them exactly what they wanted while also making it fit in with the rest of our home {especially since the bathroom is visible from the stairs} and making sure it was a space that they could still love five or more years from now.

If you've ever looked for superhero decor, you know that much of it falls into one of two categories - bright and over the top, or dark and a bit too mature for young kids. I couldn't find anything just right for our needs - modern and sophisticated, not too little kid-ish, but not too scary either.

When I find myself in this kind of design dilemma I always come to the same conclusion - it's easier to go the DIY route and make exactly what I want! And that's exactly what I did with the simple DIY superhero art for the bathroom. I've gotten quite a few questions from readers about that art, so I wanted to give you the quick tutorial today to show you how easy it was to make using on of my go-to DIY tools, the Cricut!

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to let you know that this post is sponsored by Cricut and contains so affiliate links {if you buy something I recommend I may receive a small commission}, but since I've been talking about my Cricut DIY projects for as I've been blogging, I know you guys are aware that my love for Cricut runs true and deep! Here are some of my other favorite Cricut design and decor projects:

Ok, back to the tutorial superhero art! I came up with the idea to keep the art modern and sleek by simply placing simple metallic superhero logos on black backgrounds with contrasting white frames. Of course, I didn't want to have to cut the logos by hand, and that's where the Cricut comes in.

A few months back I made a project using metallic adhesive foil, and it worked so well that I realized it would be the perfect medium for this project because I could cut the superhero logos and just stick them directly on to the black art boards.

One of the questions I get asked most often about the Cricut is whether it will be easy for you to learn the Cricut Design Space software to create my own custom projects? And the answer is a resounding YES! The software is so user-friendly and intuitive, and once you've made your first custom project you'll have confidence that you can do anything. How do I know... because that was me asking the same question just a few months ago, and after dragging my feet and being nervous to make my first custom project, I know can't stop planning what I'm going to make next.

I'm actually not going to walk you through the process for creating a custom cut project using Cricut Design Space in this post because I did a really detailed tutorial back in January with step by step screenshots.

I purchased clipart versions of the superhero logos that I wanted to use {Superman, Spiderman, and Batman}, and then loaded the images in to the Design Space software. From there, the process of turning them into cut files is exactly the same as I outlined in this post {just skip past the project photos and go to the second half of the post for the Design Space tutorial.}

Once I had the cut files created, I affixed the adhesive foil to my Cricut mat. I set the knob on the machine to "other," and then in the software I chose "adhesive foil" as my material to ensure that the cutting pressure would be perfect for my material.

After cutting each logo, I used my weeding tool to remove the negative pieces of the designs.

I would normally use vinyl transfer tape to perfectly position my foil or vinyl designs on the final product, but in this case I was placing the logos on art boards with a paper-like surface. I've learned the hard way in the past that transfer tape won't come off of paper easily, so I needed to find a different method to position the adhesive foil logos on the black art boards.

My main concern was getting the logos perfectly centered, so I decided to remove the adhesive backing and lay the first logo face down {foil side down} on the frame glass centered within the matte opening.

With the adhesive side up {not yet stuck to anything} I was able to adjust the positioning until the logo was centered and straight. Then I was simply placed the black art board face down into the frame, pressing down to adhere the adhesive foil to the board in just the right spot.