DIY Vinyl Lettering Painted Sign

Sometimes things don’t quite turn out how you want them to when you’re crafting. Yeah, maybe this wasn’t a complete craft fail, but it definitely didn’t turn out as I planned. I actually wasn’t going to post about this project at all, but Ben talked me into it. Alright, let me show you the steps and then explain the lessons I learned along the way about my…

DIY Vinyl Lettering Painted Sign

So I first found this vinyl lettering 50% off at Hobby Lobby. I loved this saying, especially since we’ve moved so many times in the past couple years, ha.

Since we had a bunch of 1×4 scrap boards in my workshop, we decided to DIY a board to stain & paint to back the vinyl lettering.

We basically followed the same steps as the Halloween sign from last year. This time we did 6 even boards across with two cross boards across the back. We drilled a screw through the cross board into each 1×4 board.

Then on the two back cross boards we added some d-hooks (love these!), one on each side. We used a laser level to make sure they were even.

Next I used my favorite wood stain on the front of the sign.
This stuff dries super fast and it’s easy to wipe on.

Next it was time to add the vinyl lettering. I laid it out first to make sure I liked the spacing, then I added one piece at a time.

And then it looked like this…

Next I painted over the entire sign in chalk paint.

And then after it dried I slowly peeled away the vinyl lettering.

And then the sign looked like this…

Ok, not terrible, but not perfection either.

I was really hoping that more of the stained part would show through, kind of like my Table Trough Centerpiece. I loved the wood tones showing through the lettering on this one.

My problem this time around?
My vinyl lettering was way too thin. Bummer.

You really can’t tell that it’s stain underneath; I really could have just painted the base layer or even kept it natural wood to skip a step completely. Oh well, lesson learned. THICKER vinyl next time!

But at least now you know how to easily make an easy painted wood sign, right? Keep a look out for vinyl lettering on clearance from places like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby so you can make some yourself on the cheap. Or if you have your own vinyl cutter, even better!

Alright, so have you guys had any craft {somewhat} fails recently?
Or maybe something that didn’t turn out exactly as planned?