Paintable Children's Wall Art

The first step was to use the XCS image editing tools to remove any white background of the image.  I then used the outline feature of XCS to draw a vector around the fire truck This will be used to create the cut path for the top layer of the design.

Next, use the outline tool again to create an additional outline.  This will serve as the backing of the design and add some depth to our project.  I adjusted the padding to provide a boarder around the original outline.

Next, I wanted to reduce waste on this project.  I wanted to cut out the inside of the lower layer as it will be covered by the top layer that has the engraving of the fire truck.  I used the outline tool and set up a negative value, which made the outline trace to the inside of the original outline.  This will provide us with a frame that matches the outline of the fire truck.  I chose to make this board about .5 inches.  I wanted to make sure there is adequate glue area where the top layer overlaps with the frame we just created.

I also moved this object to a new canvas because I will process it in a separate job.

Once the two parts are cut out from the laser, I then applied a single coat of stain.  I am using a color called Red Oak.  The top layer is unfinished, however you could use a different color stain on this part to add contrast. 

The last step is to add wood glue around the outside edge of the top layer.  Be sure to use very little glue, it won't take much.  Also, if you do have a little bit of glue squeeze out, just use a damp rag or spung to wipe it off.  Be sure to do this a soon as possible to make glue clean up easier.