DIY Farm Sign Using Any Font

Our new place has tons of random pieces of wood lying around in the barn. I knew once I stacked them up that they'd be getting a few coats of paint, some distressing, and would adorn random places throughout our farm. I've made a few wooden hand painted signs before, but drawing out the lettering myself takes FOREVER. I draw it out on the sign, realize its off center, or crooked... then I have to erase all of my hard work. Total bummer. The idea struck me the other day to try something a little different, and it worked out perfectly!

Supplies Needed:
Piece of Wood, cut to size
Sawtooth Picture Hanger
Acrylic Paint (I used Indoor and sealed it with a clear coat)
Wax
Sand Paper
Clear Coat Spray Paint (I used Rustoleum)
Printer
Printer Paper
Paint Brushes
Pen

Apply a dark coat of paint only around the edges of the board, and wherever you want the dark paint to show through in the distressing. One coat should do. Once dry, coat painted edges of wood (and any other areas you painted dark) with a thin layer of wax. Apply two coats of light colored paint on entire board, drying in between. Using sandpaper, sand down edges of board, and any other wax coated areas until the darker paint shows through. Continue distressing until you get your desired effect.

Now for the exciting part - the lettering!

I downloaded a few fonts I liked, measured the piece of wood I was using, and how big of an area I wanted the lettering to cover, and printed out the words and my chicken symbol sized accordingly. To save my beloved black ink, I printed in a light pink color. Cut the words out, and place them wherever you want the wording to go on your sign. Applying pressure, trace over the words - you'll notice there will be an indent where you were tracing.

To make it easier to see when painting, outline the indent of your letters or symbols with your pen.

Finally, paint the outlined letters and symbols. I did two coats of black paint for the letters. Then finished off the entire sign with a coat of clear coat, and attached a sawtooth picture hanger to the back . How easy was that?!

Have fun making a sign for everything in your yard! :)