DIY Vintage Game Cabinet with Cricut

March 26, 2020

So, like we are totally at the bored out of our minds stage of this shelter in place pandemic. It’s so, like, gag me with a spoon. Seriously, we are starting to grate on each other’s nerves and it’s not fun sometimes. I needed something fun for everyone, and I needed it quickly. So, I designed a DIY Vintage Game Cabinet and hosted a family only 80’s Party.

If you decide to make a purchase through my links, I will be paid a small commission for it. This doesn’t cost you anything additional.

80’s Party at Home

I ordered a bunch of 80’s party supplies from Oriental Trading, and totally ’80’s food from Shipt. Then, guys, I put my math brain on and designed this totally rad DIY Game Cabinet cut file for my Cricut! Our Totally Rad ’80’s Party was like Far Out Man!

Vintage Games

My parents owned a laundromat when I was growing up. We had 6-10 stand up video games at any given time. It was truly an ’80’s child’s dream come true! Free play PacMan, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Tron, Centipede, and more, as long as I did my homework and my chores. And, y’all, I took that for granted. I so wish I had even one of those old machines now.

Since my boys, hubby, and I all love to indulge in ’80’s movie marathons and play retro games on our iPads, I thought it would be totally RAD to design an iPad stand that looked like a vintage game cabinet.

Game Cabinet SVG

This cabinet took me eleventy billion hours to design, and eleventy billion more to cut out…and I still ended up changing the cut file some. However, I wasn’t able to cut the revised SVG on chipboard because I ran out, and my local stores didn’t have enough. I did cut it from cardstock, and it worked as well as I hoped card stock would.

This cut file took all day to cut, but I totally think it was worth it!

I’m sharing the SVG for the cabinet, the decals, and the PDF cutting page in the downloadable file. The game cabinet is assembled like the DIY Bed for Dolls and Elves I shared.

Make Your Own DIY Vintage Game Cabinet

This project will take a while to cut, and you will need a LOT of Chipboard. There are 16 mats to cut, some are simple rectangles and are finished quickly, but others are more intricate and take a lot more time to cut.

Supplies

SVG File from the shop
Cricut Maker
Cricut Knife Blade
Adhesive Vinyl
Transfer Tape
Cricut Chipboard
Amazon Links Below –
Masking Tape
E6000 Glue
Clamps
Paint
Wood Screws
1×1 Scrap Lumber or Dowel Rod Cut to fit inside the game cabinet

Step 1

Download the SVG, and upload it to Cricut Design Space. Send the image to cut. Be sure to select an 11×11″ cutting surface. And, don’t forget to tape the edges of the chipboard to the cutting mat.

Step 2

Turn on Netflix and watch some shows, this will take about 10 hours to cut.

Step 3

Once all of the chipboard is cut, upload the decals to Design Space, and send those to cut. I used permanent black adhesive vinyl for this.

Weed the excess and set aside.

Step 4

Assemble the game cabinet. I used E600 and clamps to glue the double layers together. This wasn’t 100% necessary. But, I wanted to make sure my cabinet was totally secure for our iPads.

Once the layers are glued together, assemble the cabinet. The PDF is printable and will help you identify which pieces are which.

The top back section of the game cabinet will overlap the bottom, this makes it more secure. There are two rectangles for the inside to act as flat bracket to secure the top and bottom sides to each other. I am adding a bunch of pictures of the assembled game cabinet so you can see how it is assembled.

Assemble Chipboard Game Cabinet — Glue the duplicate panels together.

Chipboard Game Cabinet Flat Bracket Inside — Flat “bracket” inside the game cabinet. Side panel pieces wedge the iPad in place.

Chipboard Game Cabinet Backside — Backside of the game cabinet. The top section overlaps the bottom section.

Side panel for DIY Game Cabinet — Side panels

At this point, I measured the space between the sides and cut a piece of 1×2 scrap to fit between the sides. I placed it towards the top in the back. This will act as a back support for the iPad. I used two small wood screws on each side to secure it. This made the whole cabinet much more secure and gave me more piece of mind when I put our iPad in the cabinet.

Inside support bar for game cabinet — Inside support bar. This can be a 1×2″ or dowel rod. This is a support bar for the iPad.

Side Panel of Game Cabinet — Wood Screws into the side of the game cabinet and wood support inside. Add to both sides.

After the cabinet is fully assembled, paint it. I used spray primer and yellow spray paint on mine. But, get creative with it!

Step 5

Once the paint has fully dried, apply the decals to the game cabinet.

Step 6

Sync your iPad to an xBox or PS4 remote via Bluetooth and you can wirelessly play your games in the cabinet. (This will only work with newer iPad Minis)