Good morning!
You are in for SUCH a treat this morning! I can’t tell you how excited I am to have Tara from Anything and Everything here to share her beautiful DIY Wood Sign!!! Not only has she put together a fabulous tutorial, but she’s even included a free printable so that you can make your very own! This girl’s got some serious talent … I can’t wait for y’all to see what she’s got in store for you!!!
Hello Everyone!!! I am so excited to be here today! I’m Tara – the girl behind Anything & Everything where I blog about everything from DIY projects, home decor, food & drinks, and anything in-between. With my zest for life and my husbands passion for design, we are never at a loss for unique and entertaining ideas.
I am thrilled to be sharing my DIY Wood Sign with all of you today! One of my absolute favorite projects that I have done so far! Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!
While putting together my gallery wall, I knew that I wanted to incorporate a quote pertaining to family etc… While searching Pinterest I stumbled upon this quote “This is the Life” I loved it! My gallery wall is all about family and our new life we have with our cute little boy! So This is the Life fits it perfect because it really is the life!
supplies:
- plywood or wood
- print-download This is the Life print here
- acrylic paint
- paint brushes
- carbon paper
Using scraps of plywood leftover from my Crate Coffee Table, I cut the size desired for my wood sign. Love it when you have leftover stuff from previous projects!
My talented husband designed a fabulous graphic for me (not sure what I would do without him, I tell ya, I definitely wouldn’t have any great designs that’s for sure!) Printed out the design on regular paper and then used carbon paper to transfer it on to the wood. Get your free print of This is the Life quote here.
Place the transfer paper on top of the wood and behind the image that you are transferring, and tape the corners. Keep in mind that you can always paint the wood before you do the transfer. That will save you a LOT of time in painting “around” the design, but you will have to make sure that it is a light enough color for the transfer paper to show up. I made the mistake of painting the other side black before trying to do the transfer, and it was very hard to see it after.
Then I traced the image with a pencil. Here it is after tracing it all. As you can see there is black paint on the edges. That is because my first attempt did not go as planned. But the best part is that you can flip it over and try again!
Now the fun part, Painting! Using acrylic paint, I painted the letters white, and added a little hint of yellow and blue. I am in love with yellow these days!
Here is the letters painted all white.
After the letters were all painted not it was time to add the black. This took a lot if time, but am so much happier with the outcome. As previously stated, the first time around we painted it first making it so hard to see the trace of the design. We wanted it to have a rustic look and be able to still see some of the wood grain, so we did a little bit of a fade with the black.
Then I added a little yellow and blue accents to the flourishes using a tiny paintbrush. This helped to tie the design into our rooms accent colors, and give it a little flair. I made the hubby do this part as I really do not have enough patience for that. Him being the artist that he is, he has the patience and enjoys it, so he was better off doing it anyways 🙂
I absolutely love how this turned out!
To see how it looks displayed in my Gallery Wall and for other DIY projects make sure to pop on over to my page Anything & Everything.
Thank you so much, Kristi for the opportunity to guest post over here on your blog! I am truly honored!
HUGE thanks to Tara for sharing this amazing sign with us today! Be sure to pop over and check out all of her fabulous work – I promise, you won’t be disappointed!
I love this & I’m going to pin it. I need to spruce up my decor a little in my room. i’m getting a little tired of looking at the same things. I hope your having a great day!
Isn’t it fab Leslie?! I’m so excited to have Tara sharing it!
Thank you, Leslie! Glad that you like it! Have fun sprucing up your room!
What an inspiring quote! I am definitely on the hunt for more pretty inspiring things to go on my blank walls. Pinning for inspiration later!
I love this one too! SUCH a great way to add some personality to a space!
Isn’t such a great quote, Rachel! I love it! I am glad you find it inspiring!