Well folks, it’s here…fall is upon us. I always hate to see summer go, but something about the crisp sunny days, apple based concoctions, hearty food, orange leaves, and boot weather that makes me smile. Also…its officially Buckeye season…O-H…c’mon guys don’t leave me hangin!!! Anyways, after making the sign for over my kitchen table, I have become kind of sign crazy. I want to make them for every season and every wall…I walk around my house pointing at pieces of furniture or bare looking walls shouting “You get a sign, you get a sign, and YOU GET A SIGN!” Ok maybe not, but it’s so cheap and easy that it’s hard to resist. I wanted something to go on our hutch in the living room, so I rooted through our scrap pile in the garage. Luckily I found a board that was just about the right size, so I got to work!
The board was already stained and sanded so for my directions, we will pretend that I did that as step one. Step one…sand the board to achieve the desired smoothness, then stain with the color of your choice. After you have your base looking and feeling like you want, prep the edges with Vaseline. This will allow you to “chip” the paint later on. Just dab the areas that you want distressed with a little vaseline and you are ready for the next phase.
“Found board”
Vaseline prep the edges
Paint the board with either chalk or milk paint. This time around I used Rustoleum’s new line of paint called “Chalked”…totally loving it by the way! 🙂 When you paint over the vaseline, you will notice that the board will “resist” your paint. This is normal and supposed to happen. Once dry, it should look something like this.
An even coat of chalk paint
Once it’s dry it should look like this
The next step is by far the most time consuming. This time around I decided to try and take the easy way out, by cutting the letters out and using them as a reverse stencil. Looking back, it would have been better to just cut the letters out and use it as a regular stencil. That is because when I spray painted over the letters…they moved around…a lot…hence why my “Give Thanks” has lots of bleed over. But it’s all good because I have a handy dandy sanding block! Once everything is dry, just sand away until you get the right amount of chipping. I ended up adding a little dark wax to some of the edges to give it some more depth and character, but that is totally up to you!
Lay out your letters evenly
Once the paint is dry, peel the letters off
Sand away until you get it looking perfect 🙂
I am soooo loving my fall vibe right now. When I say I’ve been sign crazy, I meant it…I even made a couple signs for the front porch. These were a lot less sophisticated than the “Give Thanks” sign. I just used milk paint as the base and spray painted over the paper letters. Pictures to come soon! Simple, but still adorable! Have fun and let me know how it goes! 🙂
Hey everyone, I'm Mads! I am a graphic designer by day and adventurer by every other second. I have a thirst for experiencing life and that means appreciating the small and quiet parts as well as the big and exciting parts. I read, write, hike, travel, and watch nerdy t.v. shows and movies. I am wife to the best guy in the universe, sister to THE coolest people you will ever meet, and mother to 4 adorable fur-babies. I have always loved creating new and unique ways to beautify and brighten our home. Our life is small, simple, adventurous, and kind of amazingly imperfect.
