Wall decorations are a great way to breathe a bit of life into your home and make those blank walls a little more interesting. If you’re going for a rustic look in the home, some nice wooden signs are ideal. You can usually pick them up in antique stores but you’re paying a lot of money for something that is incredibly cheap to make. So, why not just make your own instead? It’s a great craft project that you can do with the kids so you’ve got a fun activity to do for the afternoon and some new decoration for the house at the same time. Here are some great tips on making your wooden signs for the home.
Sourcing The Wood
The first thing that you need to make a wooden sign is the wood itself. If you go to a hardware store, you can pick up a couple of bits fairly cheap but they won’t necessarily have the right look, especially if you’re trying to create a rustic aesthetic in your home. You want something that has a great rustic feel to it so it’s better to use reclaimed wood instead. It’s going to save you a bit of money as well which is always a bonus. You can use anything you like really, pallet crates are a good source of free reclaimed wood. If you can pick up some old wood that’s a bit rough around the edges with some paint still on it, it works perfectly for a great rustic-looking sign.
Preparing The Wood
Now that you’ve found some wood, you need to prepare it before you can add whatever designs you want to your sign. If you’ve picked up some new wood, you shouldn’t need to do that much to it before you stain it. However, if you’re using reclaimed wood, it’ll need a bit more care. Get some sandpaper and take off all of the rough parts before you stain it. Visit thesummeryumbrella.com for a great guide on preparing the wood to make signs.
Adding A Design
Once you’ve prepared the wood, you’re ready for the fun part; adding your designs. There are a couple of different ways to do it. You can cut designs out of vinyl and stick them straight onto the wood for a professional finish. The only issue is that vinyl is a bit of a difficult material to work with, especially if you’re trying to cut out words. But if you can get a vinyl cutting machine (vinylcuttingmachineguide.com can help you find the right one) it makes life a lot easier. If you are doing a design with words, try not to make them too thin, otherwise, it’ll be difficult to apply them to the wood neatly.
Alternatively, you can paint the design on instead if you’ve got good painting skills. You can easily pick up a good oil-based paint that works well on wood from any hardware store or, if you’re in the mood for more crafts, you could try making your paint instead. The only downside of painting is that it’s a bit of a pain if you make a mistake and you’ll have to strip the wood and start again. So, always make sure that you draw the designs first with a pencil and paint carefully.
With a bit of practice, you can make some great wooden signs to put around your home.
