Wooden Trays Into Signs
2 Materials
$2
Easy
I have been wanting to try my hand at making signs and using graphics, text, quotes or anything inspiring. I found these at a thrift store for $1 each and knew I could use them for this type of project. Yaay! Have a look to see how easy it is and hopefully find inspiration to give it a try yourselves.
These are wooden, very light trays that needed some spiffing up.
I splotched some black chalk paint onto them here and there, as I knew that I'd be distressing the final result and wanted some to peek through.
I forgot to take pictures after applying white chalk paint. I had also "splotched" on some teal chalk paint in places. It took two coats of white chalk paint and then I distressed here and there and then applied one coat of beeswax and let dry for a day. I printed out a saying, using Word.
I then rubbed pencil all over the back of the printout. I had tried with a green pencil crayon, but I couldn't see the impressions left behind, so do use a regular pencil for better results.
I then went over the outline of the text, pressing down to leave an impression on the sign.
It doesn't have to be perfect! Having something with an older, distressed look means you'll be sanding a bit, so you can hide some of the mistakes. Gotta love that!
I used a fine marker to make the outline permanent, and then used a small artist's brush to fill in the outline. I took my time!
Some shakiness creates a less than neat lettering, but with some sanding, it looked alright in the end.
I added some scrapbooking stickers to the signs and will hang them on a wall at our cottage when we go next week. The sanding did drag some of the black onto the white, but I then went in with a soft cloth and rubbed it cleaner. I just forgot to take a picture of that result. My bad! I will take some pics of the signs once they are up on the wall and will share. See how easy this was? :)
Comments
Join the conversation
3 comments
-
Love these! I want to be at the beach right now just thinking about it! :)
-
This is a very cool idea! I like what you did with the trays AND I appreciate the tips you learned along the way. Thanks for sharing!
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?