DIY Farmhouse Sign

Desiree G
by Desiree G
4 Materials
$10
1 Hour
Medium
Farmhouse signs are very popular right now and I love them!! I wanted something vertical for our eating area in our kitchen but the large signs are very expensive! I have a pile of scrap wood laying around for project and found the perfect board! This was a FREE DIY for us!
My piece of wood is 47 3/4"x 7" but the beauty of making your own sign, you can do whatever measurements work for your space. I stained it first in Ebony, so that when you go to distress it, black will show through the white. Let it dry completely. Then paint it white, I used white chalk paint to get that really flat finish.
I printed out a basic font on paper. I believe my size was 300, but depending on the size of your sign, your letter sizes will vary. I laid each sheet down on the board and made sure they all fit, perfect!
I then colored on the back side of the letters with a #2 pencil and laid the paper back down on my board. You then trace over the front side of the letters, leaving a transfer of the letter.  
You can see the letters are now traced onto the board. You will then paint your letters in. I used a black chalk paint.
Let it dry and sand it to distress it. I used an 80 grit sandpaper to get a really rough distressing.
Here's a better close up of the distressing.
I like the sign at this point but it felt like it needed something else. A stained wood trim! I had a long piece of pallet wood and I split/cut it down the center, turning it into a 1"x2" trim. Sanded and stained it with Minwax Early American. You can just purchase 1"x2" trim.
At this point I forgot to take pictures of how I added the trim. The plank floats inside the trim. I did it by laying down plastic soda bottle caps on the ground or a flat surface. I rowed 4 of them up, spacing them out about every 10". Then lay your board on top of them, that will elevate your sign/plank an inch or so, so that your trim lines up in the middle of your board. I then clamped the trim on and used finish nails to attach the trim to the wood plank.
The finished sign size is 49"x8 1/4". Signs of this size run from $60-$150!! This was FREE for me since I already had everything!
Suggested materials:
  • Wood
  • Stain
  • Paint
See all materials
Desiree G
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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