Trek Bucket Vinyl Art
My oldest son has the privilege of going on an LDS Trek this summer, where he will join with about 200 youth ages 14-18 to reenact four days of the Mormon Handcart Pioneers’ journey to the Salt Lake Valley. This is a big deal, and the youth here only do it once every four years.
Our stake was granted permission to use this amazing silhouette image of a pioneer family pushing a handcart, and I got permission to use it to apply it in vinyl to my son’s 5-gallon bucket. The kids each get a bucket to act as a suitcase and a seat (they make padded seat covers for it). We get to decorate it as we choose. I chose vinyl, of course.
Because the original image was a black & white silhouette image, this made it extremely easy to trace in Silhouette Studio to assign cut lines. I had to make it quite large to fit the bucket and to retain the tiny details. The hardest part was not weeding away all the tiny inner voids, but in leaving the tiny unconnected black areas behind.
See the flag and the scarf and the artist’s signature in the lower right corner? But I did get those bits to stay, and I think it turned out wonderfully! I love vinyl. 🙂
My son is so excited to go, and I’m excited for the experience he will have. There will be no phones, no electronic devices, no treats, etc. They will actually be pushing handcarts. This is going to be as authentic as they can make it while still keeping the kids safe.
We read about my great great grandfather, Jacob Bastian, who was a Dutch pioneer who traveled with his wife by handcart from Iowa to Utah in 1857. This ancestor’s experience was amazing and heartbreaking, and we’re happy my son gets to have just a little taste of this adventure.
The vinyl was fun to do, but I kind of wish I could go, too.
Read more about this bucket and design here.
Oh my Kelly, you've done an awesome job! I can't imagine how labor intensive it would have been to have remove the design, yikes! You're amazing!
Thanks, Marilyn! It's one of those projects where it takes a long time, but once some time has passed you forget and are ready to do it again. 🙂 I will be making two more.
This is amazing! Are you willing to share/sell your image? We are going on Trek in July and this is idea is perfect!
Thank you, Kim! I got permission from our stake Trek leader, who got permission from the artist to use this image. The artist's website link is in the second paragraph, above.
Did you seal the vinyl decal to the bucket?
I did not seal the vinyl. It sticks really well to the hard plastic. I don't actually expect it to survive completely on Trek. I don't expect anything my son brings will survive completely on Trek, actually. 😉 I don't think sealing it would make a difference, in that respect.
Hi, I don’t see the link of the artist. I’d love to do this for our Trek. Do you know who created it or where I could go to get the image?
Unfortunately, the artist has now passed away and I don’t know who to ask about copyright permission. Her name was Kim Kincaid, and I’m assuming her family now owns the copyright, if you want to pursue it.