DIY Stenciled Wood Sign

Donna

7 years ago

With some projects, you find that you have to keep at it and try new things before you get it right. Such was the case with this DIY stenciled wood sign I decided to make.

Sometimes, first attempts at a project fail, so you have to continue anyway and try again.

My first attempt at making this wood sign ended up being a failure. I tried to use a stencil but didn’t secure it to the surface with spray adhesive, and the paint bled underneath.

My second attempt was to repaint the whole front of the sign bright yellow and free-hand paint a hoop wreath with succulents. I didn’t like that design either, so I once again put the wood sign on the shelf of my craft room, of course, to be in the way of other projects.

My third attempt was finally more successful. This time, I tried a stencil again, but I used spray adhesive to keep the stencil in place and prevent the paint from bleeding underneath it.

I finally have a painted DIY stenciled wood sign that will eventually end up in my master bathroom.

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Sometimes you have to keep trying repeatedly, and sometimes just one last time to get a craft project right, or at least something better than you have attempted before. This year I have been on a mission to clean out as much of the clutter in my craft room as much as possible. This monthly challenge is one of my favorite challenges because I get a completed project for my home and lose some of the clutter in my craft room.

I can’t tell you how many times I have moved this wood sign around from shelf to shelf in my craft room to get it out of the way of something else I was working on. I had messed it up in the past, but I just didn’t want to throw it out—yet. This month, I decided to stop moving it around and finally give it a new look for this month’s Craft Room Destash Challenge.

The monthly Craft Room DeStash Challenge is no longer active, but you can still visit the blog posts below for some great inspirations.

Every month a group of bloggers are challenged by C’mon Get Crafty to create a new craft or project from their own stash of goodies! Everyone is allowed a $10 allowance for necessities to complete their project (i.e. paint brushes, glue, etc), but the bulk of it must be created from their own stash of goodies.

Let’s meet this month’s bloggers!!

C’mon Get Crafty | Love My Little Cottage | Slices of Life

Domestic Deadline | Across the Blvd | Purple Hues and Me | Modern on Monticello

This Autoimmune Life | Sew Crafty Crochet | Home Crafts by Ali

My project this month is a DIY Stenciled Wood Sign.

A few years ago, I purchased this wood sign, along with another one, at Walmart. The first one I painted in rustic blues and grays and used a stencil to create a DIY Wood Sign. Since the first stenciled sign worked out so well the first time, I decided to use the second one, which I had messed up twice already, to make a nice DIY stenciled sign with a great quote for my master bathroom.

The first thing I needed to do was cover up the old painting project on the wood sign that I didn’t like.

The only way to cover up the bright yellow paint was to use a darker color, so I chose navy acrylic paint as the sign’s base color and applied several layers until the old design was completely painted over.

The navy paint not only covered up the old attempt at painting this wood sign, but it also gave it a nice new base color for a new project.

Dreams don’t work unless you do!

My husband helped me pick the quote from the stack of paper stencils I also purchased at Walmart when I bought the wood signs. This time, I temporarily attached the stencil to the wood sign using spray adhesive to get a better outcome for the painted. There was no paint bleed this time. Using a makeup sponge and white paint, I applied two layers of white paint to the stencil and created the quote for the wood sign.

I used the makeup sponge to apply two layers of white paint on the stencil lettering. Each time, I would dip the sponge in the white acrylic paint, wipe off the excess, and then apply the paint to the words by lightly tapping the sponge over them. This method keeps the paint thin enough not to bleed underneath the stencil.

After removing the stencil, I filled in the gaps of the words by applying white paint with a very small craft brush.

The secret to making this project work this time around was to use the spray adhesive to temporarily attach the stencil to the wood sign before applying the paint with the sponge for the wording. The spray adhesive prevented paint bleed underneath the stencil’s words and also allowed me to remove the paper stencil cleanly and easily. Follow the instructions on the side of the can of spray adhesive to temporarily attach the stencil instead of accidentally attaching the paper stencil permanently to the wood sign.

The quote my husband and I picked for the stenciled wood sign is great motivation and inspiration to start the day. The best place to hang it will be in the master bathroom, where I will see it every morning. This recreated craft project is done by adding a few simple accent dots to the painted wood sign! Third time is a charm!

I am working on some updates and design changes for my master bath for a different blog post, so I cannot show this DIY wood sign in place in the space, but it is coming soon.

Be willing to continue working on a project like this wood sign over and over again to improve it. Now, I don’t have to keep moving the sign around from shelf to shelf; I can hang it on the wall for inspiration.