How to Cover Your Light Switch Covers

September 24, 2013 By Jason 54 Comments

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These days whenever I need to do any cutting in a project I ask myself “how can I do this on the Silhouette.” So when Stefanie came to me with the idea to cover light switch and outlet plates covers with scrapbook paper, I thought it would be a great job to do on the Silhouette. I thought that I would measure one of the plate covers then draw it out in Silhouette Studio, but it was not that simple. I used a little measuring tape to make the measurements and tried to be as accurate as I could.

How to cover light switch covers with scrapbook paper

Step 1 – Cut out scrapbook paper to fit on the switch cover

Step 2 – Glue the scrapbook paper onto the switch cover

Step 3 – Apply a layer of glue to the front side of the paper

Step 4 – Install ‘new’ switch cover on the wall

Step 1

Cutting Round 1

Outlet Plate Cover: I drew the outline for the outlet plate cover and all the shapes for the holes. I basically spaced them out according to my measurements and hit the [CUT] button. All the holes were the right size but they were too close together. The actual plate cover had rounded edges, which I didn’t account for, so the paper didn’t cover the entire cover.

Double Light Switch Plate Cover: I did the same thing for the double light switch plate cover that I did for the outlet one, I drew all the shapes and then put them where they were suppose to go. Once again the paper didn’t cover the cover and the holes weren’t even close to being right.

Back to the drawing board – literally.

Cutting Round 2

Outlet Plate Cover: I center the paper from the first attempt on the center of the plate cover and started adjusting everything from the center out. This time I had a little more confidence when I clicked the [CUT] button. SUCCESS, the paper fit perfectly on the plate cover.

Double Light Switch Plate Cover: Since I was so off in my measurements of the all the holes in the light switch cover I decided to make take the easy way and just cut out the big square without any holes; then I would cut out the holes with an exacto knife once it was one the plate cover.

Step 2

We glued the paper to the plate cover with modpodge, trying to use a thin layer of glue so the paper didn’t get too wet and start to bubble. It also helped to put the cover face down on some wax paper so the weight of the cover would help keep the paper flat.

Step 3

Once the modpodge is completely dry we added a layer of modpodge on top of the paper to seal it and protect it from little finger. Remembering again to apply a thin layer at first to prevent bubbling. If the paper does start to bubble you can put it face down on wax paper.

Step 4

After drying over night the outlet covers are ready to be put back on the wall. Before the light switch covers can go on the wall you will need to cut out the holes. For the the screw holes I made two cuts that made an ‘X’ so I could just push the screw through. For the light switch hole I cut out the rectangle shape from the back using the cover as a guide. then it was ready to go on the wall.

Here are the results

Here is the download for the cut files I used.

Have an idea for a project you would like to see as a tutorial, leave your idea as a comment or send an email.

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