How to Make Farmhouse Signs — Create Your Own Farmhouse Style Wooden Signs (2023)
Scrolling through your Pinterest boards and found those cute, little, farmhouse wood signs? Don't they just look like the perfect addition to your home?
Sometimes we think that with DIY farmhouse signs, the world will be a good place. We're here to make your DIY farmhouse sign dreams come true!
How to Make Farmhouse Signs
How to make farmhouse signs may seem a little bit intimidating, especially if you're not very familiar with the process of DIY projects.
After all, the farmhouse signs on Etsy wouldn't be so expensive if they were so easy to make.
But on that note, we've prepared a step-by-step DIY tutorial on how to make farmhouse signs tutorial just for you!
Materials You Will Need
The first thing you wanna do is to prepare all the materials for your wood sign.
Basic Materials
You will need the following basics:
- 1 x 2 Wood (for frame only)
- Plywood or MDF [1]
- Wood stain
- Paint for sign
- Paint for lettering
- Mod podge matte
- Paint brush
- Transfer tape
- Wood glue
- Nail gun
- Carbon paper
Extras & Specifics
And the following specified materials (ie., depends on how you want to make your DIY farmhouse signs)
- Furring strips
- Vinyl
- Stencil
- Vinyl cutter
Frankly speaking, making farmhouse signs provides you with a lot of freedom.
You may evaluate which materials you really need once you've figured out which of the ways to make a wooden sign you'd like to follow.
In the meantime, make sure you have the farmhouse basics, and let's begin!
Decide on the Size of the Sign
Once your materials are prepared, evaluate how big you want your farmhouse sign to be! You can start by deciding where you want to place your new signs, and go from there.
Not to put so much pressure on you, but you'd like to think of this step very thoroughly.
This defines and sets the foundation of your farmhouse sign DIY project.
Cut Plywood for Your Frame
Now it's time to finally start!
Cut your plywood to your preferred wooden farmhouse decor size. This is typically done with tools, such as a circular saw or a table saw.
But if you aren't so familiar with the way they work, then we suggest that you visit your local hardware store and get some help! No shame in that!
Sand Wooden Frame
When you've finally had your frame cut into the right size, it's time to sand it thoroughly. Sanding your wooden frame is one of the most integral parts of making these DIY signs.
For one, they make the surface smooth, and two, they make way for staining.
Stain Wooden Base
Speaking of staining, once you're satisfied with your sanding, stain your wooden base! When it comes to staining, you have just as much freedom with your design.
Feel free to use between colors such as raw umber, dark brown, or go for the natural plywood color.
After all, this sign is all yours!
Painting Wooden Base
When staining is all out of the way, the next thing you want to do is paint your plywood with your desired color paint.
If you need any ideas, people typically do a walnut stain and paint their background with white paint!
Waiting to Dry
While I do understand that staining and painting is one of the most enjoyable parts of the DIY farmhouse sign process, it'd be best to do multiple thin layers of paint as opposed to a thick one.
This allows the paint to be even and dry thoroughly, as you'll need it later for when you design.
Once that's all said and done, let your stained and painted plywood sit overnight and dry.
Style Sign With Preferred Method
Now we've come to the DIY farmhouse sign process step everyone's been waiting for.
It's time to design!
You can design your farmhouse sign with whatever phrase or image you'd like, so don't be shy of using your imagination.
Three Ways of Designing Your First Sign
There are three ways of doing the design process, and we'll leave you to think that over.
Because regardless of which you choose between vinyl, stencil, or freestyle, we've got your back!
Vinyl
If you've decided to use a vinyl stencil for your wooden sign, then come aboard!
Design
We're assuming you've already chosen a phrase, so go over to your editing software and choose a font you'd like to see on your farmhouse sign.
Printing
While you're doing this, make sure that the width, and orientation in general, fit with your design.
A tip we'd also like to give you is to print your design on paper before doing it on the vinyl.
Doing this ensures that your letters fit perfectly and that you won't be wasting any of those vinyl stencils.
Cutting
Once you've cut the vinyl, it's time to remove the excess vinyl and transfer your design.
Don't forget to remove the small spaces between the letters, especially if you used a scripted font for your farmhouse sign!
Transferring
When the design is ready, use transfer tape to place the letters on your sign. Line it up on the surface, press firmly, and lift the transfer tape.
Stencil
Frankly speaking, the method for using vinyl and stencil are very similar.
Stencil, however, is a thicker material, almost like a plastic sheet really. The special thing about them is that you can use them over and over.
Oh, how exciting!
So if you've decided to use stencil, no worries, we've still got you!
Designing and Placements
First thing you want to do with a stencil is to figure out the spacing, especially if you're using alphabet ones.
Firmly tape the stencils in place, and try to decrease the gaps between the stencil and wood as much as you can.
Painting
And then, the fun part; painting!
Apply a light coat of paint, and dab in an up and down motion with little paints on the brush. While doing so, try pressing down on the stencil to prevent any of the paints to bleed through.
That is, touching up is fairly possible with stencils.
But if you want to reduce the chances of doing so, the best mitigation method is to press down with a pencil as you put down your paints.
Paint and Repeat
Let that coat dry, and repeat the painting process!
You can continue to apply paints on your farmhouse signs until it's as bold as you'd like.
Repaint, Reuse, and Redesign
When you're done, you can simply remove your stencils and use them again later on!
Freestyle
If you prefer to be a little bit more creative or you don't have a vinyl or stencil, you can still make your very own farmhouse signs!
In fact, you might actually have more freedom with these.
Anyhow, let's cut to the chase; here's how to make farmhouse signs freestyle!
Pencil Transfer
The first step to the pencil transfer paper is printing your design on computer paper.
And here comes the fun part!
Turn the paper over, and shade pencil marks where the text is printed. And then place the paper on your wood surface, making sure that the design is facing up.
With enough pressure (but without tearing the paper), trace an outline of the letters you've printed with the pen.
There should be enough pressure from you to leave faint marks on the surface of your farmhouse DIY wood sign.
When that's over, remove the paper and fill in the letters with a permanent marker or black paint!
Carbon Paper
One of the other freestyle methods is using carbon paper.
First up, print your design on computer paper. With the glossy side of the carbon paper down, place one on top of the wood surface of your sign.
Then with the design facing you, place your printed paper over the carbon paper.
Once again, just like the pencil transfer method, trace the letters with a pen; making sure that your strokes are hard enough to leave marks on your wood.
Fill in the traced letters with paint or permanent markers!
Install Your Farmhouse Signs
When you're done with styling your sign, it's time to attach the frame.
With the help of a few furring strips, your sign is now ready to be installed in your home!
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of paint do you use on a farmhouse sign?
Frankly speaking, any type of paint could be used on farmhouse signs.
The most common one, however, is latex paint. You can feel free to use paints such as acrylic, too!
How do you make a farmhouse sign with stencils?
When making farmhouse signs with stencils, the initial step is to decide the placement of your letters.
After that, just put paints on top of your stenciled sign; whilst making sure that none of the paints are bleeding through.
Repeat the painting process until the sign is as bold as you like, and remove the stencil when it's all dry.
Then simply reuse the stencils when you're ready for another DIY!
How do you make mini farmhouse signs?
The process of how to make mini farmhouse signs is fairly similar to making regular-sized ones!
Just have your plywood resized as preferred, and choose your method of styling.
Conclusion
If you think about it, how to make DIY wooden farmhouse signs really isn't all too hard.
Above that, they are, with no doubt, absolutely fun to make! We really wish you the best in your little home decor journey.
So pick up your woodworking materials and all your creativity in stock; we hear that your dream aesthetic says hi!
