Learn how to make your own large custom farmhouse typography sign! It was SO easy to make and cost just a few dollars.
One of my absolute favorite farmhouse style trends right now is rustic typography signs.
You see them all over the place beautifully styled with inspiring quotes. They’re framed with dark stained wood and looking so perfect on the wall!
Here are a few of my favorites from Etsy:
Now, there’s nothing wrong with buying your own farmhouse sign. Those signs are gorgeous, right?! To be honest, sometimes I wish I could just buy all the stuff that we make ourself 😉
But, that’s just not in the budget right now.
I was determined to make our own farmhouse typography sign for our modern farmhouse hallway! I need a pretty large sign (roughly 18×24) to fit in the space I’m planning.
And, not just any sign, but one that didn’t require any fancy machines (i.e. Cricut – though I do have one of those … somewhere….)!
I could always {gasp!} free hand write a sign but let’s be honest, I don’t know many people who could do that and make the sign look pretty.
So, I decided to order an engineering print of my favorite quote.
With tax, this print cost me $2 at Staples. You can’t beat that!
I designed the print in Picmonkey (a free service!) using one of their free fonts – De Walpergen Pica. You can just click design, put in your measurement specifications, and design your own sign!
I LOVE this font because it looks like old time writing. You can’t go wrong with any of the free fonts they have. There’s plain text, script fonts, whimsical fonts, those weird all symbols fonts, etc.
Once I had my print, it was on to building the frame!
Supplies/Tools for Frame:
- 1/4″ plywood
- 1×2 pine select boards (they look better stained)
- any kind of white paint
- Stain of your choice
- Mitre Saw
- Circular Saw
- Nail Gun
- Pin Nailer
First, cut the plywood to be 1.5″ wider and longer than the size of your engineering print (my print was 18″x24″).
Once it’s cut, paint the surface in any white paint you have. I think I used a paint/primer in one that was high gloss (ew!). You just need the surface to be white so that you can’t see the wood behind the engineering print.
Next, use the the mitre saw to cut 45 degree cuts in the 1×2 boards so that the frame has inside measurements that match the size of the engineering print. Once cut you can stain the frame pieces.
Using a nail gun with 2″ finishing nails, nail the frame together. You’ll use two nails into each joint. Be sure to align the inside corners of the frame!
To attach the plywood to the frame, clamp the plywood to the frame with the frame face down on a work surface. Then, use the pin nailer to nail through the plywood into the back of the frame every 2 to 3 inches.
Last, you need to attach you engineering print! We used double sided tape. Start by applying strips on one corner of the print. Carefully align the print in the corner and press. Then, without any other tape on the print, push the sheet over and down the plywood to smooth out any creases.
We had a bit of a measuring error so we had to cut the tiniest bit off of the one side of the sheet. If we had put the tape on all 4 sides and pressed down there would have been gaps and bubbles all over the print.
Once you’ve made sure the print fits exactly, apply tape to the other 3 corners and carefully smooth it out.
Whew! I feel like that was a lot of words for not an extremely complicated process. Seriously, it’s way easier than all of that!
Best part?? The whole project cost just over $10!
So, it didn’t go exactly according to plan.
Because I had the print for so long before attaching to the plywood, the kids had messed with it and it got a little wrinkled. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I had it on the plywood.
I’m going to reprint the engineering print and attach a new ( not wrinkled) quote sometime soon and I’ll come back and update the post on how it looks now!
Don’t get me wrong it’s still a really cute sign. It just needs to not be wrinkled 🙂
I think the frame really looks perfect in our hallway. It’s the first piece I have finished in the space and I can’t wait to have it all come together.
Can we also take a second to chat about the quote!
I mean, isn’t it just the perfect reminder of what happiness REALLY is?! I need to tattoo this to my brain.
Wishing you a joyful day!
Kendra @ www.joyinourhome.com says
I very cute Sarah! Love the quote!
PAULINE C MURPHY says
question is there any reason that you could not attach the paper to the wooden backing-then attach the stain pieces instead of the struggle making the paper fit? btw…I LOVE YOUR BLOG!!!
Shaye Christian says
I did a couple of these similar to yours, but I sprayed the paper lightly with fixative (i didn’t know if the ink would run when wet), then covered the plywood with a layer of mod podge, laid the paper on it and smoothed it from the center out to avoid bubbles/ wrinkles, then another thin layer of mod podge over it ( matte finish). Then I put the frame on last.
The paper ends up looking painted on. Love your quote – hadn’t heard that one. Very original! I love your site. Thanks for your wonderful ideas! Shaye in NHs
Kristi says
That sounds like a brilliant way to make your own Shaye! Thanks so much for sharing!!!