DIY Vintage Christmas Sign

This DIY Vintage Christmas Sign is a fun addition to our holiday decor!

Check out the tutorial below, here on our fifth Day of Christmas fun!

I've always struggled with our mantle around the holidays. I've tried wreaths, mirrors and lots of other things...but nothing gave it the punch I was looking for. After enjoying my Pumpkin Patch sign for the fall, I decided to create one for the holidays, too.

  

I'm super happy with how it turned out. I wanted something that looked like it was carried right off the tree farm after 100 years of service.  

I had the big blue box store cut a thin piece of plywood to the size of the space above the mantle. Then I used some paint I found on the clearance table and gave it a couple of coats.

Next, I created a sign and tile-printed it out...INSANITY. It was 36 pages, tiled. THIRTY. SIX. Never again. Next time, I'm going for an over head projector. The above is sized to download and print onto standard letter-sized paper. You can easily use it on a projector to project your design on to your board and trace it. If you're a glutton for punishment like me, feel free to drop me an email for the 36 pager...I'm happy to send it along. 

After I printed it, I taped it to the board, one sheet at a time. It was like a gigantic puzzle.
  

I used a ball point pen and traced very firmly along the lettering to leave an indention in the wood {through the paper}. Then I outlined the indention in pencil. This took a while. So much so that I dropped the "5 miles, blah, blah, blah" bit. I was soooo done.  

I used acrylic paints to fill in the outlined letters. 

I used red and gold for the main lettering. 

I then used green to add accents to the lettering. 

Then it was time to pull out my inner Bob Ross and add some happy little trees to the sign. I used three shades of green to create the trees. And a little brown for their trunks. This step is all about the blending and layering of colors.

After the sign had dried, I pulled it outside to sand it and rough it up a bit with my sander.  

I then used dark walnut stain to work in sections and age the piece. Simply brush a small amount of stain on and let it sit for just a few minutes. 

Then wipe it off with paper towels...rubbing in circles to make sure it's blended well.  I sealed mine with a spray sealer and I was good to go!

Loving this little touch of holiday vintage! 

{i linky-party here}

and at Coastal Charm and Savvy Southern Style

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