On the fourth day of Homemade Christmas, we made Easy DIY Pallet Signs.
Before it ever became cool, I was a huge fan of vintage and farmhouse decorating/style. When I would go out shopping and looking at decor I am drawn to the pallet signs. I would look but, I would never buy. Even when they were on sale.
I always thought to myself, they can’t be that hard to make. I can do that, maybe, my handwriting can be bad, maybe not. One day not too long ago I decided to just try it. I had some ideas in my head for Christmas decorations and my daughter is wanting to update her room. I figured it would be a good Christmas present for her if it turned out.
Going into this project, I did not have a Cricut machine or anything similar. I would have to make my own stencil or draw freehand. Since my handwriting is not the best I designed my own stencil.
To design your own stencil you need to use some sort of graphic design program like photoshop or photoshop elements. If you don’t have those you can find programs online such as Canva, Gimp or PicMonkey. When making the design create your stencil the first thing is you want to create your stencil with the dimensions of your board. This also helps give you a visual of how your sign is going to look.
Here are the two Christmas stencils I created:
Once you have your design it is time to gather your supplies and get to work.
You will need:
Pallet (Walmart sells these for around $5)
Sandpaper (various grits)
Acrylic Paint (can be found for 50 cents a bottle)
Paint brushes (various sizes, including some with finer tips for details)
Paint Sealer
Chalk
Pencil (colored)
Printed out stencil, cut out if desired
Tape
Your first step will be to put a base coat of paint on your pallet boards. I typically mix a couple colors together to get the effect I want. Allow your board to dry completely and once dry go over with sandpaper to smooth out in rough areas and make your sign look weathered, if desired.
The next step is to apply your stencil. First, place the stencil on your board and figure out your placement. Once you have your placement On the side of the paper that is not printed on, take chalk and shade in your design.
Next, you are going to place the stencil back on your board and with a sharp pencil trace your design. When you carefully remove your stencil you should see your design. If you don’t like it simply wipe your board and try again.
If your design looks good, then take your pencil and trace your chalk design onto the pallet board.
When you are done tracing the chalk outline all you need to do is wipe your board off to remove the chalk.
Then you are ready to finish things up. Finish painting your sign and go over again with sandpaper if desired. I also like to add small wooden cutouts to some of the boards that I make. Then apply sealer if desired
All that is then left to do is put it up and display or wrap up and give to your family and friends for Christmas.
These signs can be completed in a single day depending on how complex your design is.
They also look just as good if not better than the ones you can buy at the store.
The homemade pallet signs are better though. When you make something for someone, you can’t help but put love into it. I know I can’t wait to give my daughter her sign on Christmas and I am thinking of making a few more for friends and family too. I know they will love them.