Wooden Family Sign

Personalize your Wall Decor

Posted by Jessica {My Love of Style}

About

I really wanted a Shabby Chic Wooden Family Sign to hang in my house. I was originally contemplating buying one, but decided that it would be a great DIY project to take on. So, I'm thrilled to share a step by step tutorial that shows you how I made it. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be and is fairly cheap to make, so don’t let the small letters intimidate you because I’m going to show you an easy way to draw on the letters without having to buy expensive stencils.

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You Will Need (11 things)

  • Piece of Wood (I used a 1/2″ piece of MDF Board)

  • Base moulding

  • Stencil or Printed Letter (I used Word to print out my letters)

  • Liquid Nails

  • Clamps

  • Wood Stain (If you want to give it a distressed look)

  • Paint

  • Microfiber rag (To wipe off the excess stain)

  • Paint brushes (I used a large Paint brush for the stain and a very small paint brush for the letters)

  • Sand Paper
  • Carbon Paper

Steps (12 steps, 180 minutes)

  1. 1

    Cut a piece of Wood or MDF board the size that you want your sign to be. My sign measures 30 x 8.5. Cut your base moulding so that it frames the piece of wood (I cut the moulding using a 45 degree angle).

  2. 2

    Once you cut the long and short piece of moulding you should measure the remaining two pieces so that they are the exact length of the first two pieces. I usually put them on top of the moulding I’m going to cut next and trace the lines to make sure they will be the exact same size.

  3. 3

    Once you have cut all four pieces of moulding apply liquid nails to secure the moulding to the MDF board or Wood. I used clamps to hold the moulding in place while it dried

  4. 4

    Once the moulding is secure paint the wood and moulding the main color (I wanted mine to be an antique white)

  5. 5

    Next Apply the stain (I used the left over Gel based stain from when we refinished our master bathroom cabinets; however if you don’t have stain on hand a great product to buy is Valspar Antiquing Glaze). I used the dry brush approach where I took a dry paint brush, barely dipped it into the stain and then blotted it off on a paper towel so that there wasn’t much stain left on the brush. I then brushed it onto the board.

  6. 6

    I took a microfiber rag to wipe off the excess stain (that’s how you get a distressed look)

  7. 7

    Once the stain dried I took a piece of sand paper and sanded it down to make it all blend in. Here is what it looked liked after I sanded it

  8. 8

    I didn’t have stencils so I used Word to find a typeface and printed off the letters for my sign. I used Georgia for everything except “Barringer” because I wanted Barringer to be a different font. I then cut around the letters and taped them to the carbon paper. I then positioned the words onto the sign and taped them to the sign.

  9. 9

    Take a ballpoint pen and trace around each letter, applying pressure as you trace. I went over my letters several times just to be sure that it would show through.

  10. 10

    Once you have traced around all of the words remove them from the sign and it should have copied perfectly over to the wood. See how easy that was!!!

  11. 11

    Take a small paint brush and paint the words. I wanted Barringer to be a different color so that it would stand out.

  12. 12

    Once you have finished painting and the paint has fully dried take a piece of fine sand paper and gently sand across the words, this will give them the perfect distressed look