A tutorial to make the easiest OLD wooden sign and FREE graphics

onemoretimeevents

I wanted an antique wooden sign for my spring window display and I wanted one right away!

 So, here's my latest tutorial of how, easily, I made this beauty.

The details it has make it look really convincing.

 I'm the type of girl who's just too anxious to get a project done then to go out and waste time hunting for old wood or spending money for some new. 
Cardboard is free and always at hand....I'll show you how to make one.

After cutting a piece, to the size that I want,  I start by painting it a darker shade of brown. It's a better base color for convincing age. So, grab any old craft paint and slap some on!

Then randomly apply a crackle medium, here and there, (not quite all over) and let it dry according to directions.

When it's ready, apply your desired color (making each swipe in one direction) and wait for it to dry. 
I used white semi gloss paint and my, scruffy old, medium paint brush...it's perfect for making chunky gaps in the paint and adds to the aging results!

Here's a little aging technique for any wood project.
 You need to add clusters of tiny worm holes... they are so often found in really old wood.
So, grab a hammer and a nail and poke away!

This is my preferred transfer method:
Design and print out your text or image in REVERSE 
This one is FREE and already reversed and ready for you to use....all that I ask is that a link to my artwork is provided wherever you share your own creations.

Just right click and save it to your downloads.
 

After you've chosen your text or image this is what you need to do next:
I use presentation paper for more stability with wax paper taped on top and feed it into my ink jet printer.

Remove it very carefully .....it's really easy to smudge!
Then tape it in place to hold it, onto your wood, where you want your image to be.
Again, very carefully, use your finger (it transfers the ink better that using a credit card) and rub over all areas of your design.
Then remove the wax paper and do not touch the ink...it will still be wet on the glossy paint!


Just a little FYI, I accidentally used a semi gloss paint, but, ended up very glad that I did. 
It saved me the hassle of having to hand paint each letter on my sign.
 note: if you happen to have a laser jet printer then simply use a flat paint. The graphics from a laser jet come out much more vivid than the ink jet results, which come out lighter on a flat paint base and you may not have to paint your image at all.

  A moist cotton ball easily cleans up any little imperfections of ink.

 Now to get rid of that glossy look...
handle it very carefully as you apply your sealer. I used a matte finish spray.
It completely toned down the shiny finish.

Last summer I made my first fake sign...it's my most popular post on my blog and on Hometalk to date.
my old wood market sign...not
This was the one that I hand to end up hand painting because of the faint image results over the flat paint finish.
It turned out great, but it was a lot more work.

It's kinda crazy how easy this one was to do and how realistically old it turned out. 

So, here it is displayed above our old country cupboard for now. 
Soon I'll move it to our bay window for it's new spring look.

Stay tuned for a fresh breath of spring air!

Love, Hugs and Kisses,
JP

and Gucci, too!

  

This post was honored with a feature @ onemoretimeevents and lifeonlakeshoredrive


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My Old Wooden Market Sign...NOT!

This is my new, old wooden sign. It's perfect for our country kitchen.

It's nice and weathered from age.

But, here's my little secret....
IT'S A FAKE!!!

Here is my DIY and how I created it, out of a flap, from a cardboard box .

This is how I distressed my sign and aged it.

First, I started by giving it a coat full coat of a brown paint to give it some more depth when I attempted to distress it.

Next, I used plain, white, craft paint and my scruffy brush and just dry brushed on one coat and let it dry, letting the card board show through.

Then, I applied a second coat, heavier in some places letting the card board still show through.

I made the "Farmer's Market" script in Pic Monkey and reversed it with the "rotating" tool.
Then I used an 8x11 sheet of card stock and lightly coated, one side, with spray glue. I cut a piece of wax paper to fit to size and adhered it in place. 

Then I fed it into my inkjet printer, using the wax paper transfer method and it came out like this.

Being careful not to touch the ink ( as it would smear) I peeled of the wax paper and layed it where I wanted the words to fit.
 I held the paper, firmly in place, as I used a credit card to rub the transfer to my sign. I made sure that I rubbed it plenty of times to get all of the ink to adhere.

Now, this was the result.
You could leave this for a really worn look or do what I did and go over it with a fine liner brush and paint or if you are luck enough to have a laser jet printer your ink will transfer nice and dark!

I chose to make it darker and mixed some paint for a not so black result.

Next, I used a sanding block to go over the letter's to age them a bit. You see the difference between Farmer's and the RKET :)

Then, I wanted a little bit of distressing over the background, so I took a tiny square from a kitchen scruffy sponge, dampened it and removed some paint here and there.
Some strokes sideways and some up and down.

And lastly, I thought that it could use some "worm hole's" since they are usually found in, really old, wood.
I used the sharp end of a paper clip and tapped it with a hammer to make random holes all around.

I had a few cups of coffee and my hands were real shaky, but my letters didn't turn out too bad!

For now, this is where I have it.

Eventually, I will make more signs on wood...but, for now, I'm gonna continue to play around with more cardboard. It's free and I've got lots of boxes hanging around!

It's not too bad for a FAKE!

For another even easier way to make one of your own check out my latest version here

There's a free graphic of it, too!


Love, Hugs and Kisses,
JP

and Gucci, too!

Can you see him? He's playing "peek-a-boo!

A few very special "thank you's" to Kathy @ lifeonlakeshoredrive   and to Erlene  and all of her co-hosts @  mypinterventures  and to Tammy @ .onemoretimeevents   sharing this post as a feature at their parties!

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