Weathered Sign Tutorial

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This simple weathered sign tutorial is perfect for any season or saying. 

I created this one for Easter, with one of my favorite verses.

I will say, this tutorial is just an example of this technique. I love the way the paint turned out, but I honestly wish I had used a different font...this one seems just slightly on the trite side for a scripture of this magnitude. I was going for more of a handwritten look, but this feels like one wrung up the ladder from Comic Sans, y'all. But, I am happy with the technique and how well it aged this particular sign. I wanted it to look worn from the outside in and this seemed to have achieved this particular look.

I think this worked well here on the cabinet top of my built-ins.

I started with a scrap piece of wood from my pile. This is just a 1x10 board.
I sanded the edges well before painting.

For this sign, I used the Waverly chalk-style paint in Elephant (kind of a dark grey) as a base color (which becomes the color of the lettering, in the end). I used Hemp Oil to help with weathering the edges (grab a bottle of painting-style Hemp Oil here on Amazon). I used a light blue acrylic paint for the top color. Not pictured: dark furniture wax (optional).

I started by painting one side of my 1x10 in the Elephant paint. It's important to use a chalk-style paint on this first layer so it sticks better than the top layer of paint. Chalk-style paint is a lot better at adhering to surfaces.

This is a bit random, but I had to share this. I used vinyl lettering to create the scripture on this sign. I finally purchased a larger size cutting mat for my Silhouette Cameo. This was such a game-changer...I didn't have to piece together any lettering (which is such a pain). Grab a larger size (12"x24") cutting mat like this one here on Amazon.

After I applied the vinyl lettering to my board, I went over the letters with the first color of paint again...to seal the edges of the lettering so the top coat wouldn't bleed under the letters.

After the paint is dry on the "seal coat", I applied the hemp oil all around the edges (fairly liberally) to the entire sign. This hemp oil is a barrier to that next layer of paint...it make it practically fall off the board once you start sanding. Only apply the oil where you want dramatic weathering...I wouldn't apply it where the lettering is.

The hemp oil will look oily for a bit...even when you're ready to add your top color of paint. Be sure to pour your paint from your can or bottle into another container for the top coat. When your paintbrush hits the hemp oil as you're painting, some oil may get back onto your brush. Dipping it back into a can of paint can thin out your paint, so just use another container to be safe.

After the top coat is drying, just peel off your vinyl lettering.

I sanded all of the edges and a few other random spots on the board. 
The areas where the oil was seem to just "magically" weather themselves easily.

For an extra layer of "weathering", I added some dark furniture wax to the sign, too.
This also protects the finish of the sign, too.

Even though I don't love the font with this scripture (my fault!), 
but I am happy with how the sign, overall, turned out.

Neglect your chores like me and don't miss a thing:

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