Wooden Art Signs That You Cut Out and Paint

Learn everything yous need to know to make gorgeous DIY woods signs including the best materials to use, easy ways to get perfect lettering, and how to frame your sign.

I take shared dozens of DIY wood signs here over the years and at that place are even more than that never fabricated information technology to the web log. In fact I used to take an etsy shop where I sold handmade wooden signs.

But with all of the signs I've made, somehow I haven't ever shared a consummate start-to-finish tutorial with all of my best tips and tricks for making cute DIY forest signs. So today I am sharing how to make a fabulous wood sign, including four ways to letter a sign perfectly and how to build a simple wood frame.

And in case you lot are wondering, you admittedly do not take to ain a Cricuit or Silhouette or other cutting machine to brand professional-looking signs. All you lot really need are a few inexpensive supplies and a bit of know-how.

collage of 9 diy wood signs including framed signs, black and white signs, colorful signs, and plank wood signs

This postal service contains affiliate links; run across my full disclosure here. This sign blueprint and files are to exist used for personal apply but – non for commercial purposes or resale.

Materials

The materials you need will depend somewhat on which sign-painting method you cull, but this listing volition become you started.

wood sign base of operations – I like to make signs from plain three/4″ birch plywood. Y'all tin can buy this pretty inexpensively at your local home improvement store. Craft stores besides sell lots of pre-cut blank signs in all kinds of styles and sizes.
paint for the background of your sign – Any paint volition work for this including pocket-sized craft paints, pigment samples, and chalk paint.
modest foam paint roller or a paintbrush – These are my favorite paintbrushes.
stencil or a printout of your sign design
Sharpie oil-based paint pens – These are ane of my peak tricks for making cute signs.
1″x2″ pine boards for making the wood frame
forest stain for the frame

Tools

hammer and finishing nails or a brad nailer
miter saw or other saw for cutting wood frame pieces to size

How to brand wooden signs

Cull your woods

My favorite sign-making material is bones birch plywood. Information technology's cheap, has a smooth surface, and can be cut to any size you want. You lot tin buy birch plywood in 2'x2′ and 2'x4′ sheets at most home improvement stores.

If you lot want to brand a smaller sign, you lot tin can usually have your plywood cut to a smaller size while yous are in the store or yous can practice it yourself at abode with a circular saw or table saw.

wood pieces for making a wooden sign

It may be really tempting to employ thin ane/4″ plywood for making signs. I used to do this all the fourth dimension because it was cheaper and nobody would be able to run across how thick it was anyway.

Learn from my mistakes – don't do it! The thin plywood warps very easily over fourth dimension and is as well very difficult to attach a frame to. I highly recommend only using iii/iv″ plywood for making wood signs.

If yous don't want to deal with cutting plywood, there are besides all kinds of really cute blank signs yous tin purchase at arts and crafts stores. You lot tin can buy planked signs, framed signs, even signs in special shapes. I've linked some of my favorite styles below if yous want to go that route.

Blank Sign Options

Pigment your sign

Once you lot've chosen the forest you are using for your sign, the next step is to pigment it.

White is definitely the most popular color for painted signs, but you can utilize whatsoever color you want. I've made quite a few signs with colorful backgrounds that I really beloved. Y'all can besides stain your sign instead of painting if you prefer.

A good paintbrush works just fine for painting signs or, if you lot are making a larger sign, you tin can use a small-scale foam pigment roller to speed things along.

Lettering your sign

The next stride is to add the blueprint to your sign. There are iv master methods for lettering a wooden sign.

Stenciling a sign

One of the easiest ways to alphabetic character a gorgeous sign is to utilize a stencil. Stencils are great considering anyone can become beautiful results even if you lot take terrible handwriting.

Stencils also eliminate the demand to effigy out a great maxim and design for your sign because they come up already designed and ready for sign-making.

home sweet home stencil on wood sign

wood sign with white letters saying home sweet home

home sweet dwelling house stencil

If you choose to stencil your sign, I have a post all about how to perfectly stencil wood signs and another post all about the different types of stencils for wood signs .

And I'm sharing some of my favorite stencils for forest signs below. Some of these stencil designs are really fantastic.

Favorite Stencils for Signs

Using a printed design for a sign

My personal favorite method is to print out a design and transfer it onto your sign. I love this method because y'all accept consummate pattern control – your sign tin say annihilation you want in any font you like.

Y'all tin design exactly what you want your sign to look like on your reckoner using Canva , PicMonkey ,or even Microsoft Word.

So print it out and transfer it to your sign using a uncomplicated pencil transfer technique. I have step-by-step instructions for doing a pencil transfer if you've never done it before. Information technology really is incredibly easy and requires zero design skill.

Making a sign with a vinyl cut machine

In the past few years, Silhouettes and Cricuits have become very popular for sign-making. Both machines can cut designs out of adhesive vinyl that make for easy sign-making.

You lot tin design your own sign or buy one of the hundreds of designs bachelor on Etsy , cut out the design with your Silhouette or Cricuit, then use the vinyl messages similarly to how a stencil is used.

I don't typically use a cutting motorcar for sign-making, just Laura from the Turquoise Home has a cracking vinyl sign-making tutorial here .

Hand-lettering a sign

You can besides hand-letter your sign if you accept cracking handwriting. I would recommend using a pencil to draw the initial letters so you can erase whatever mistakes.

Paint your lettering

When yous are transferring a pattern or paw-lettering, the absolute best 'paint' to use for painting the lettering on DIY signs is Sharpie oil-based paint pens . A paint pen also makes for easy stenciling but if you lot are making a vinyl sign, the process is a chip unlike.

If you lot accept used paint pens before, you probably accept realized that not all paint pens are equal. Some are a downright mess to endeavour to use. I love the Sharpie oil-based ones because they write smoothly, have good coverage, and write well on both stained and painted wood. They aren't perfect, simply they work so much better than any other paint pens I have tried – peculiarly if you are doing white lettering.

And using a paint pen is most g% easier than trying to paint perfect letters with a tiny picayune paintbrush. (I've used that method too and information technology is not my favorite!)

using a paint pen to letter a sign

If you lot are hand-lettering or transferring a design to make your sign, y'all can use your paint pen to fill in the penciled blueprint. It's as like shooting fish in a barrel every bit coloring in a coloring volume.

using a paint pen to stencil a sign

If you are stenciling a sign, you tin simply use a pigment pen in place of paint to stencil your sign.

How to frame your sign

When I first started making wooden signs years ago, I never added a frame. Honestly, I wasn't sure how and I idea they looked fine without a frame.

And they did. But I honey how a unproblematic wood frame makes a DIY sign wait truly finished. And it turns out framing a woods sign is actually really like shooting fish in a barrel.

You need a 1″x2″ pine board for your frame. Cut two pieces the height of your wooden sign plus one.v inches. Cut two more pieces the width of your wooden sign.

plywood and four boards to make framed wood sign

Use 220 grit sandpaper to smooth whatever rough edges and and so use a clean cloth to stain your sign in the stain of your choice. (I used Minwax night walnut for this frame.)

white painted plywood and stained wood planks to make framed wood sign

One time the stain has dried, lay your sign pieces out on a flat surface.

Apply some wood gum and a hammer and finishing nails (or a brad nailer if you have one) to adhere the peak and lesser frame pieces to the sign.

painted wood sign with top and bottom frame pieces attached

Ane boom in the centre of each piece is enough for small signs; larger signs may demand a couple of nails.

close up of wood frame with finishing nail attaching the frame to the painted sign

Then attach the two side pieces to the sign using a pair of finishing nails in each corner.

attaching the final side of the wood frame to the sign with finishing nails

The last step is to attach a sawtooth picture hanger to the back for hanging.

diy wood sign that says you and me with a white background and wood frame

Favorite DIY Wood Signs

Now that you know everything about making astonishing woods signs, I idea information technology would exist helpful to share a bit of sign inspiration.

Of the dozens of DIY woods signs I've made, these are my favorites. Nearly of these signs have a tutorial linked below the photo, merely there are a few that don't have full tutorials.

Nigh of the tutorials besides include either a link to the stencil I used or a printable version of the blueprint that you can print at home to brand your own sign.

Sunshine Sign Tutorial	Thankful Sign Tutorial	Tutorial in my volume
Wise Sayings Sign Tutorial	Fresh Air Sign Tutorial
Dwelling house Sign Tutorial	Family unit Rules Sign Tutorial	I'll Fly Away Sign Tutorial
Thankful Sign Tutorial	Joy Sign Details

I hope you feel completely prepared now to dive into making your own wood signs! And if not, please ask whatsoever questions y'all may have – I am always happy to help!

I'd love for yous to share this post on Pinterest!

Materials

Plywood or other Wood for Sign
Pigment
Pocket-size Foam Pigment Roller
Stencil
Sharpie oil-based pigment pens
ane″x2″ Pine Board
Wood Stain
Sandpaper

Tools

Hammer
Finishing Nails
Miter Saw

Instructions

Paint your plywood base in the color of your option. Allow it dry.
Transfer your sign design to your sign base using a pencil transfer or stencil it on.
Make the frame by cutting ii pieces of the 1"x2" the superlative of your sign plus ane.five".
Cut two more pieces the width of your sign.
Smoothen any rough edges with 220 grit sandpaper.
Employ a clean textile to stain your sign in the stain of your option. Let dry.
Lay your sign pieces out on a flat surface.
Attach the top and lesser pieces to the sign with forest gum, a hammer and finishing nails.
Echo with the two side pieces.
Adhere a sawtooth moving-picture show hanger to the dorsum for hanging.