Handmade Sign

I am so excited to share this DIY with you guys! Last night my hubby spent some time in his barn making this sign for me (which has been laying around for months). I was so excited that I finished it asap.  All it involves to build is a 1×8, your choice of wood and (2) 1×2 8ft boards.  All together the wood cost about $6-$7 depending on the type of wood you want. We cut the 1×8 board down to 4 feet and then cut a 1×2 board in half so that it would border the length of the 1×8 board and cut the other 1×2 board into lengths of 10 inches to finish that border. Because I’m terrible at taking before pictures, here is an “inbetween” picture..

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This was after I had stained the inside but you get the picture. We just used a finish nailer to attach the border to the 1×8. I then stained the inside with a dark walnut (my favorite stain that I use for everything) and wiped it off after applying so that the knots and wood grain showed through.

Then I painted the border in Behr Antique White which I have added bb frosch chalk paint powder to, to transform it into a chalk paint. I used painters tape so that the white didn’t bleed onto the stain. This was the fastest part of the project taking only ten minutes!

For the lettering of your sign, you can either stencil and hand-paint the letters or use vinyl.  I’m terrible at hand-painting and always hate how it turns out so I cut my lettering out on vinyl using my Cricut Explore. This is what my vinyl lettering looked like after it was cut and I had weeded out the unnecessary left over vinyl.

In order to make transferring the vinyl to your sign easier, transfer paper is a big help. OR you can use Glad Press n Seal at a FRACTION of the cost. I then used my handy dandy scraper tool to make sure the Press n Seal stuck to the letters and pulled off the white backing. Stick your vinyl letters onto your sign and pull off the Press n Seal and wa-la, your project is all done!

And for the finished product!

Yes, I know my lighting was terrible. It was dark out and I was so excited to snap some pictures..

The sign is just what I needed above my china cabinet and made it look so much taller than it actually is. And for how cheap and easy this project was, I am extremely happy with the results!