Handpainted Sign Using Scrap Wood and Sample Paint

by Katie Nathey

Although I purchase and use craft/acrylic paints I have recently realized that most of the small projects I create are made using sample paint. At first it was because I had become a slight hoarder of “oops” paint, and a majority of those were sample paints. However, as time has gone on I’ve discovered that sample paints can also be a more cost-effective way to paint your projects.
This hand painted "Don't Worry Be Happy" sign was made using a scrap piece of wood and some sample paints I had previously purchased for other projects. You can view the full post over on my blog.

Hand-painted Sign using scrap wood

Here is the scrap wood I found from one of our bins in the garage. It was the perfect size for the empty spot on our gallery wall.

I painted the board with a couple layers of paint and then distressed it with sandpaper.

Here is the board painted and distressed

Then I printed out the words "Don't Worry Be Happy" from my computer which was 3 pages so I taped them all together. I then used the chalk transfer technique to transfer the outlines of the letters onto the wood.

I flipped the paper over, rubbed the back with chalk, then flipped it back ink facing up, taped it down onto the board and went over each outline with a pen.

Once I removed the paper I had a chalk outline of the words, that I went over with a chalk pencil to make it easier to read and paint over.

Using some dilluted paint, I painted over each letter. Once dry I went over the letters one more time.

When the paint was dry I lightly distressed the sign to give it a more weathered appearance. Here is a close up. At this point you can seal the wood and then add some hanging hardware to the back.

Here is the hand-painted sign up on our gallery wall. You can view the full post and tutorial over on my blog.

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2 of 7 comments

Njw2179998 on Aug 29, 2015
Like the transferring process. Thanks for sharing.

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Jeannie w. on Aug 29, 2015
I don't understand the Chalk transfer method. Can you explain that better.

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