How To Create Your Own Custom License Plate

So, years ago, my eldest got to intern with the founder and COO of Edge Motor Museum in Memphis, TN. Pretty cool gig. He added this front license plate to his car and hasn’t looked back (except while he was in college, when he needed both front and back state plates).

So when his brother’s birthday rolled around recently, I decided to make him a personalized plate too! I love this Edge Motor clean style, and I knew it would look good on Bro’s car, so I bought a sublimation blank and pulled out some adhesive vinyl and set to work designing on my Cricut.

[Two sidenotes here: you want adhesive, not HTV vinyl–think sticker, not iron-on. ALSO, I’ve had my Cricut for a couple of years now, and I absolutely LOVE it. I do NOT pay for the optional monthly subscription, and if there is an image I want, I find a free SVG file online, find an image the run it through a free JPG–>SVG file converter, or I draw it myself (like some writing) and scan it in. I cannot rave enough about how much I love my Cricut–not sponsored by them!]

Bro’s car is named Melvin. It’s a thing. [When he first got his car, the license plate had a “MLN-####” plate on it, so MLN became Melvin and the rest is history.]

I measured the blank license plate then set up how I wanted “Melvin” in Cricut. I chose a sans serif font and added a rounded rectangle (hollowed out using a small rectangle and the subtract tool). I also added the states that Bro has lived in with a little star between each. Then I “united” the image so it would not just cut out all the parts crammed onto the smallest piece of vinyl possible but would cut my design out in exactly this layout.

Then I wanted one too! It’s taken me months to get around to it, but I went back to my Cricut design project with his plate and fashioned my “CampClem” one after it–only I included countries in which I’ve lived rather than states.

It really doesn’t matter what color vinyl you use because that will be painted over then removed. I wanted white print on a black background, so I used a white blank license plate and sprayed it with black spray paint. I use Krylon Fusion–it is indoor/outdoor wear and has a lovely semi-flat finish (satin).

So, use some transfer paper to get the vinyl all placed and adhered to the blank, then start spraypainting!

When I made Bro’s plate, I immediately peeled the vinyl, worried it would be impossible to get off once the paint dried. That was tricky and a bit messy and absolutely fraught with the danger of messing it up! With mine, I waited until the paint dried and–thankfully–had no problem peeling!