My name is Chad Boender, and I am a kindergarten teacher and author of a blog called Male Kindergarten Teacher. One thing I am asked about frequently is how I use my Silhouette CAMEO in my classroom. We teachers all know that creating a bulletin board in our classrooms can be time-consuming and tiresome. However, it’s a good thing I have my CAMEO®! This machine has been a lifesaver! Using my Silhouette machine in the classroom to create interactive bulletin boards, crafts, and activities has saved me so much time.

One feature that I use consistently is the Print & Cut feature. This feature saves me countless hours, and it prevents hand-cramping too! Today I am excited to share how I created this fall-themed bulletin board using the Print & Cut feature in Silhouette Studio®. Let’s grab our supplies and get started!

Supplies Needed:

Step One: Create Your Design in Silhouette Studio®

  1. Start with a blank file with page size of 8.5 in. x 11 in.
  2. In the Page Setup window, turn on the registration marks by setting the style to “Type 1.” Adding registration marks is important because your machine reads the marks in order to cut your printed shapes out perfectly.
  3. Find the image or clip art that you would like to cut out. Click and drag the image into Silhouette Studio® or go to File and then Open to locate your clip art. 
  4. Open the trace panel on the right-hand side toolbar. Click “Select Trace Area.” Click and hold down until your image is fully selected (Note: Your image should turn slightly yellow.) Be sure that your image has a yellow border around the perimeter of the image. If not, you can adjust the High Pass and Low Pass filters until you have a solid yellow border. Click “Trace Outer Edge” at the bottom of your trace panel. Your image should now have a faint red line around it.

Step Two: Print & Cut The Design

  1. Print out your design on the white cardstock by selecting the printer icon.
  2. Once it has been printed, place your printed design on your cutting mat. (Note: Remember to keep the large black box in the upper right-hand corner of your
    cutting mat.)
     Load the cutting mat into your machine.
  3. In Silhouette Studio®, select the Send tab in the top right-hand corner. Select the plain card stock cut setting and select Send. (Remember that if you don’t have an Autoblade, you will need to adjust your blade settings.)
  4. Your machine will read the registration marks and then cut out your design (Tip: If your machine is having trouble reading your registration marks, try manually moving the blade directly over the square registration mark. You can do this by moving the blue arrows in the Send tab in Silhouette Studio®.) 
  5. Once your machine has cut out your clip art or image, remove the pieces from your cutting mat.

Step Three: Assembling The Bulletin Board

  • This Print & Cut feature is perfect for creating seasonally themed bulletin boards without the hassle or stress of cutting out images by hand. Cover the background of your bulletin board with printed paper to give it a true rustic, fall look! Adding a border complements the wood paper background, and it makes the images pop, too!

  1. Using your Silhouette machine, cut out pumpkins in various sizes using the Print & Cut feature explained above.
  2. Use the same Print & Cut feature to create larger scaled images by piecing together your cut images. I did this with the scarecrow and the boy holding the pumpkin. To do this, simply enlarge the image and ensure that the image overlaps the previously printed image.
  3. Add text to your bulletin board using your Silhouette machine and Silhouette Studio®. Start with a blank file with page size of 8.5 in. x 11 in.
  4. Create a text box by clicking the text tool on the left-hand side toolbar. Place orange card stock on your cutting mat. In Silhouette Studio®, select the Send tab in the top right-hand corner. Select the plain card stock cut setting and select Send. (Remember that if you don’t have an Autoblade, you will need to adjust your blade settings.) Complete this step with black card stock to give your lettering dimension.

What kind of classroom crafts, bulletin boards, or activities would you like to see?

This blog post was originally posted on the Male Kindergarten Teacher blog. It has been edited and republished with permission from the author.