Not All Who Wander Are Lost Sign

All this rain and bad weather keeps us indoors and it's a good opportunity to make something for your home. With a few supplies and a little time, you can have your own wood sign like this one.

All you need is:

4"x24" wood boards (x10) 

1"x48" wood slats (x2)

short wire nails (x40)

white paint

sand paper

paint brushes

acrylics in soft black, raw umber, burnt umber

printer

paper

transfer paper

Take your 2 1x48" slats and lay on floor so they are straight and evenly spread apart. You can use a ruler and level, but I eyeball it.

Then, lay a 4x24 board across them and nail it to the slats with 2 nails on each side.

Work your way till you have all your boards nailed. You should put little gaps in between some boards to look kind of like a pallet.

Take a hammer and bang the corners and all around the edges. Also, bang all over the boards. Use different objects and lay them on the wood and hammer them to make indentions. This goes the wood a worn look, like it has been banged around.

Find a font you like and use a large font size. I used 350 and 400 for my fonts. You can get western style fonts at dafont.com. Set your font to outline only, too. this saves you ink. Print out your words and get your transfer paper. Lay the transfer paper on your wood and place your printed paper on top of it. Trace the words with a pen and the letters will transfer onto the wood.

After you have all your letters on the wood, use the outlines as guides and paint the words. 

like my pretty pink toes? lol

Sand the corners and edges and all the words to get a more distressed look. 

Now, I mix my acrylic paints to make a "Dirty Wash" for my signs. I add some raw umber, burnt umber and some water in a cup and stir. Not too watery, though. You want it dark enough to show up on the wood. I use a paint brush to paint over each wood slat with the Dirty Wash, then wipe away with a damp rag. Keep rinsing rag and wiping till you get the look you like. Leave more Dirty around the edges and corners, where dirt tends to gather. You want it to look grungy and rustic. Below, the picture shows the top half with the Dirty Wash and the bottom without.

After you achieve the grunginess you like, let dry. Then add 2 screw eyes and string to the back for hanging. Or if you would rather just lean it against the wall, like I did below, that looks cool, too.

Now, beat the cabin fever and create this pallet sign for your home! Be creative! 

Happy Making!

Pamela

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