So… Deb had to take care of some family binnesssssss this weekend….

which left me home alone.  Um…… DANGER ZONE.  ????

I started thinking of projects, of course.

Hand Stenciled Signs

We have this big mirror behind our couch in our family room and I conjured up this idea that some type of a stenciled sign would look pretty awesome above that mirror.  And I wanted it done on the FREE.  And since we have a pile of white chippy barn siding in the garage, what better to make a sign with?

So I searched Pinterest for some inspiration and decided on the word MARKET.  I already have a home-made-on-the-cheap ANTIQUES sign in my dining room, that cost me about $12.  (I will show you that process one day, too.)

Tip:  When you want a sign to look imperfect and like it is 100 years old, drink wine while stenciling!  ????

So I grabbed a piece of chippy barn siding and hauled it up to my craft room, along with a glass of wine.  ????

What you will need:

*Wine

*A Board

*Stencils – size and style of your choice

*Tape Measure

*Pencil

*Painter’s Tape

*Sharpie Marker (I used black)

*Small Angled Craft Paint Brush

*Paint (I used dark gray)

*Paint Scraper

*Hand Sander

I have several sizes and styles of stencils in my stash that I have collected over the years from my girl’s school projects, etc.    I choose the size and style according to the size of the board I am using.

I have tried the “pouncing” method before but I have problems with the paint bleeding underneath the stencils.  So I prefer this method.  I’m sure everyone has their own way of doing this, but this is how I make my hand stenciled signs.

I measure and mark the middle of the board with a small pencil line.  I figure out the height placement of my word on the board and apply painters tape.  This is how I keep my letters straight.

I lay out my stencils on the board eyeballing the spaces between each letter keeping it even and then I take a drink of wine.

I then measure the word itself and match the middle of the word to the middle of the board.  The middle of my MARKET stencil was right between the R&K.  You can tape your letters if you’ve had too much wine, but I was still able to hold mine without the tape.

I stencil with a pencil  (what a cute little rhyme ????) so that I can erase or sand off any mistakes.  Once that’s done, I use a black sharpie to mark over my pencil lines.  It looks really scribbly because of the chippiness of the paint…and maybe the wine.

That’s not a big old black wart on my thumb, it is the effects of my wine and the sharpie.  ????????

Using a small angled craft paint brush, I paint and fill in all of the letters.  I usually give the letters a second coat of paint.

After a few more drinks of wine, it doesn’t matter if I paint over the black sharpie outline because it will look older and by this time, I really don’t really care that much anymore.  ????

But seriously now….   I never worry about making it perfect because I’m going to scrape and sand everything in the end to make it look really old.  Which leads me to the next step.

When the letters are completely dry, I take a paint scraper and scrape pretty hard against all of the painted letters, even chipping off lots of the original white paint.

Using a hand sander with 220 grit sandpaper, I sand over the entire board, making the letters look more worn.

You can call it a dundee and hang it up, as is, if you want.  But I like my stenciled signs all framed out.

The Finished Product

So…….. I text a picture to the wifey:

I find this process pretty easy.   It helps tremendously when you want it to look old and worn and like a person who was drunk on wine made it.

What do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I cannot tell you how much I appreciate my readers and all of your comments.  I pledge my love to you all.

Buh Bye now…. said in a slurred drunk old lady’s voice!

Danelle