Make Your Own Stenciled Wooden Sign

Guest DIY post contributed by
Gina of The Shabby Chic Cottage

I’ve been googling in my spare time for vintage wooden signs, and I found  one. I loved it so much I would have bought it, but alas, it was sold three years ago. It was simple enough — and of course, I knew I could make it using what I had!

Just so ya know, this is my huge scrap pile that I keep digging out of. I found a couple of smaller pieces of beadboard and a scrap of 1×12. I chose a long skinny piece and a shorter fatter piece.

I used the long skinny piece to set up the guide for the table saw. This way I knew my other cuts would be the same width as my longer pieces.

I cut one piece with the beadboard lines running horizontal

and another where they were cut vertical.

I then cut the skinny piece into a longer and shorter length.

When I did a dry fit, by placing the pieces together like I wanted them, there was a little hangover.

I used my speed square and lined it up to cut it all even (well, my kinda even anyways.)

Then I used that scrap piece so that I would have something to nail them all securely together.

Then, I brought it all inside for a couple of coats of paint (cause it was too ding-dang hot outside today!) I put on a rough coat of my leftover white linen as a base.

I used acrylics in blue, green and white to mix different oceany shades and put them on with lots of streaks.

Get in there with your hands (wet with water) and smoosh the paint around — that’s how you get that “hand rubbed” look. You can’t get the look any other way.

Position them on the backer board and then nail them down.

I printed these off at work, cause we have HUGE paper (the size of a newspaper page).

Then I cut out yet another stencil! Then stencil it on the patchwork background. I’m getting pretty good at this by now! Just make sure you have a sharp blade, because it gets the delicate lines so much easier.

I love the results!

Tagged as: stenciling, wooden signs