EASY Step-by-Step HAND PAINTED SIGN TUTORIAL

Items used to make this sign:  Piece of painted wood, text printed onto computer paper, pencil , ball point pen and Painters pen (or black sharpie), sandpaper, glaze finish... (optional)

I started with a piece of 1x10 I had cut to about 24" at Home Depot.  They will cut your lumber to size for free, which is really handy.

I painted it with some leftover white chalk paint that I had on hand.  Light colored paint works best for this method because you need to be able to see the pencil marks.

Once it was dry, I placed the text where I wanted it to go like this - (I already painted the word 'pumpkins')

When I was satisfied with the placement, I turned it over and (so that I could take a pic) my son shaded the area  on the back side of the paper where the letters were with the pencil,  like this....

 

When we finished, this is what the back of the papers looked like....

I then flipped them over and taped them in place....

 

Then I traced the outline of the letters, pressing firmly, so that the graphite from the pencil would easily transfer to the wood.  Here is what it looked like when I was done....

 

 

I used my paint pen which I got at JoAnn's for a couple of dollars.  I've done this with a sharpie, as well, with very similar results....

 

I outlined my pencil marks...although this wood was soft and I pressed so hard, I had indents, as well, which made this pretty easy.....

 

 

Then I simply "colored in between the lines"....like this.....

At this point you can be finished...but I prefer my signs to have a bit of a weathered look and I don't have a super steady hand....so sanding them down helps hide a lot of the little flaws.  I used 150 grit sand paper and lightly sanded.  This was the result....

 

I love how the wood grain is coming through the black paint.  I then mixed some Valspar Mocha glaze with water.....

 

 

and painted it over the top of the sign.  You could do the same thing with some craft paint watered down.  I just wanted to apply something to the wood I just exposed under the black paint by sanding....

 

 

As soon as the sign was covered, I wiped it off with paper towels and this gave it a nice finished look...

 

 

Pretty simple..... 

 

You can see the sign on display in my home HERE.

 

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