I decided last week it was time to make another sign. I’ll go months between making them, but then I get a new idea and… well, the rest is history. They can be a bit tedious, especially if you have a bunch of small letters, and especially if you do it all by hand. I have to be in the mood. 🙂
But… I wanted to change things up a little bit in the kitchen, so that’s how our DIY grocery sign was born…
Basically, I followed the same steps as when I made our large living room sign. This guy is a lot smaller, and much simpler.
First, I found my board, cut it down to 30″ wide, then stained it with Early American by Minwax…
Then, I typed out the letters in a Word document and printed them to the size of the board. The font is Times New Roman.
With the letters evenly spaced on the board, I carefully flipped each page over and rubbed the back of the letter with pink chalk…
Then, I placed the paper chalk side down, and traced the letter with a pencil. I repeated the same steps with all of the pages. Once I was done, I removed the paper, then used my pencil to trace over the pink chalk…
So easy! And a great way to transfer basically anything!
Now, I carefully started adding the paint, leaving the inside of the letters un-touched…
For the paint, I used Maison Blanche in Ivory…
But, as I kept painting I noticed the crisp white was turning into a light gray…
I decided to see what it would look like on the wall. It was perfectly weathered…
But… I kept going back and forth over the color, so I left it overnight and came back the next day with a solid answer. It needed to be a crisp white. So… I grabbed our left over trim paint in Super White by Benjamin Moore and started painting.
I can’t quite figure out why the original paint didn’t stay a true a white, but I’m thinking it had something to do with the freshly stained board. That or, the wood was really soaking up the paint. That’s definitely possible too. Either way, I love this sign!
Here’s what the space looked like before with the farm sign…
And now with the grocery sign…
So subtle, but it really does make a difference. And just to be clear, I still love my farm sign, but I’m thinking of putting it back in the mudroom. 🙂
Things just keep moving and changing…
And change is definitely a good thing…
So please don’t worry about switching things up. Sometimes that’s when the best things happen. 🙂
I really love this idea! Thanks for the tutorial.
Love it! Good job.
You are oh, so patient to do signs like this. BUT what a proud and rewarding feeling to step back later and admire it. YAY for you!!!
LOVE it. Period. Just LOVE it and I’m making it. Period. (lol)
Your Kitchen is just so gorgeous and the sign is just a perfect touch!
I love the natural grain letters with the white. The size is perfect. And thank you for a very good tutorial.
Really cute Shayna. It adds so much personality. I’m not quite sure i understand about the pink chalk though. Is it transferring the outline of the letters because if it is, why would you have to go back and trace the letters ? Maybe it’s just me, i haven’t had much experience with transfers so it’s a little new. Thanks for any help, I’ll give it a try as soon as I figure it out, lol. Sincerely, Diena <3
Thank you so much! For the chalk, it’s the best way to transfer the letters. Once you have traced the letters, you will be left with a faint chalk outline. It’s best to trace over it so you don’t erase it as you paint. I hope that helps! 🙂
Beautiful sign. I may try this except I plan to cut out the letters in vinyl on my Cricut Explore, paint over the sign, and then remove the vinyl letters. Hope it works!
It looks lovely and more the right scale in your kitchen than the previous sign. Just a tip for you, when you are designing your sign, before you print change your font to print the outline only for the letters. I wrote a post about it here with detailed instructions here: http://followyourheartwoodworking.blogspot.ca/2013/05/how-to-save-ink-when-printing-large.html You will save a lot of ink that way.
Great sign! I love your blog. Can I ask what paint color is on the walls in your kitchen? Is it BM Halo?
Thank you so much! Our kitchen is Edgecomb Gray by BM. Our dining room is Halo. 🙂