• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The DIY Mommy
  • Decor
    • All Home Decor
    • Room Makeovers
    • DIY Camper Renovations
    • Simple Decorating Tips
    • IKEA Hacks & Decor
  • Crafts
    • All Crafts
    • DIY Gifts
    • Cricut Crafts
    • Dollar Store Crafts
    • Upcycling Ideas
    • Knitting & Crochet
    • Sewing
    • Macrame
    • Woodworking
  • Recipes
    • All Recipes
    • Baking
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Snacks
    • Drinks
    • Dessert
  • Clean & Organize
  • Life
    • All Life
    • DIY Business & Blogging
    • Travel on a Budget
    • DIY Kids Activities
    • Fashion
    • Health & Beauty
    • Shopping
    • Randoms
  • Printables
  • Shop My Home
    • Our Home
    • Our Camper
    • Our Little Lake house
  • Lake House
  • Podcast
  • About
    • About The DIY Mommy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy & Cookie Policy
    • Disclosure Policy
    • Sign up for my Newsletter & Get Free Stuff!
    • Link Parties
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home Decor
    • Room Makeovers
    • DIY Camper Renovations
  • Crafts
    • DIY Gifts
    • Cricut Crafts
    • Upcycling Ideas
    • Dollar Store Crafts
    • DIY Sewing
  • Clean & Organize
  • Recipes
  • Free Printables
  • Life
  • Our Little Lake House
  • Shop Our Home
  • Podcast
  • About
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Make a Rustic Wooden Sign (+ My New Intel AIO)

    Published: Aug 27, 2014 · Modified: Sep 1, 2014 by Christina Dennis · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads · 3 Comments

    We're slowly working on finishing our bathrooms in Our DIY House. Bathrooms take FOREVER. There are so many little details! The kids' bathroom is thisclose to being finished - I'm doing some finishing painting, working on a hook wall and sorting out what we'll use for artwork. The walls of the kids' bathroom are aqua blue, and the shower curtain is blue, yellow and grey, so I thought it would be fun to pull some yellow from the curtain and put it on the walls!

    I've always wanted to make a rustic wooden sign, so I knew exactly what I wanted to make for artwork in this bath. This sweet "You Are My Sunshine" rustic wooden sign was made in a day and I used only a few tools to make it: my new Intel AIO computer, some carbon transfer paper, a piece of plywood cut to size, some paint, and a sander. I'm so happy with how it looks!

    How to make a DIY rustic wooden sign - such a cute You Are My Sunshine sign!

    My incredibly old (7 years, which is like 49 computer years) desktop computer was just about to kick the bucket when a shiny new Intel AIO arrived at my doorstep a couple of weeks ago. This thing is awesome! Instead of a clunky old CPU, monitor and keyboard on my desk I have one large (but thin) screen that does it all. I can prop it up on my desk to do some designing and blogging with the keyboard, or I can carry it into the living room and leisurely browse the web with it on my lap using the touch screen. It's super cool, folks!

    Old-Desktop-VS-New-Intel-AIO

    Here's how I used my new Intel AIO and some other simple materials to make a rustic wooden sign for our kids' bathroom. (It looks pretty cute in Baby B's room too!)

    How to make a DIY rustic wooden sign - such a cute You Are My Sunshine sign!

    Materials:

    • computer & printer to layout and print a design template for the sign (if you want to make a 12" x 24" "You Are My Sunshine" sign, you can download the two pieces of my own template I made here: You Are My Sunshine Template 1  You Are My Sunshine Template 2)
    • piece of plywood, cut to the size you want the sign to be (I bought a pre-cut piece at a craft store)
    • carbon transfer paper (I found some at Michaels)
    • acrylic or latex paint in the colours you wish your background and your text to be
    • dark wood stain (I used Minwax Jacobean)
    • foam brushes
    • small detail brush

    Directions:

    Making a wooden sign using a new Intel AIO computer

    Using your computer and a word processing or design program (I use Adobe Illustrator on my new Intel AIO for projects like this), design the text you'll paint on your sign. Make your "paper size" the same size as your plywood size, and play with different fonts and sizes. For this sign, I used the font "Lobster". It's so happy! I made sure there was lots of space around my letters so that I could make a border around the artwork.

    Then, print out your template. You might have to tile it, print it on multiple pages, and tape it together like I did.

    How to make a DIY rustic wooden sign - such a cute You Are My Sunshine sign!

    Stain your piece of plywood with a foam brush. Let it dry completely.

    How to make a DIY rustic wooden sign - such a cute You Are My Sunshine sign!

    Paint the plywood with your base colour paint. I used a foam brush and just one coat because I knew I wanted to sand it off a little later anyhow to create a distressed look. I left the sides unpainted so that the stain would show there.

    How to make a DIY rustic wooden sign - such a cute You Are My Sunshine sign!

    After the paint is completely dry, lay a piece of carbon transfer paper over your plywood (carbon side DOWN!), and then center your word template over that. Trace over the edges of the words with a ball point pen so that the edges transfer onto the wood.

    How to make a DIY rustic wooden sign - such a cute You Are My Sunshine sign!

    Remove the transfer paper and your template, and use a detail brush to pain inside the letter outlines. I used a white paint, so I had to do a couple of coats. Don't worry about brush marks or little mistakes here and there - they only add to the charm of your rustic hand-painted sign!

    I made a border on my sign by putting some painter's tape about ½" from the edge of my sign all the way around and painting the edge with white.

    After the sign is completely dry, sand it lightly with a sanding block or a power sander (if you're adept at that)! Sand it to your liking - I prefered just a teeny bit of the stained wood to show through so that I could still read the letter well.

    That's it! You now have your own, charming hand-painted rustic wooden sign. Ain't it cute?

    How to make a DIY rustic wooden sign - such a cute You Are My Sunshine sign!

    #spon: I am in a partnership with Intel. Through this partnership I gain access to content, product, or other forms of value.

    Linked to: Be Awesome Linky Party, The Creative Collection Link Party

    « A Brown Paper Fall Wreath from My Recycling Bin
    Ideas for Preserving Summer Beach Memories #KinderMom »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Carrie @ Curly Crafty Mom

      August 27, 2014 at 10:43 am

      Thanks so much for the tutorial, I was waiting (patiently) for it! lol! This sign is adorable! I have been working on our Master Bathroom forever, bathrooms do take longer it seems then other rooms!

      Reply
      • Christina Dennis

        August 28, 2014 at 10:11 pm

        Thanks so much, Carrie! It was pretty easy, though the painting of the letters is a little time consuming. I found it relaxing, though!

        Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Make a Laundry Room Countertop from an Old Door | The DIY Mommy says:
      February 22, 2015 at 10:23 pm

      […] made the sign exactly how I made this sign, but I painted and dry brushed MDF instead of stained […]

      Reply

    What do you think? Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Welcome!

    Christina Dennis, The DIY Mommy

    I'm Christina and I'm sharing budget-friendly DIY & decor ideas to create a cozy home and life you love!

    Read more about me

    Latest Posts

    • Gutting the tiny cabin (and what we found!)
    • Peonies 101: How to Grow Them, Store Them & Get Ants Off Them!
    • Modern Rustic Basement Makeover with Hidden Storage Ideas

    What's my home decor style?

    Discover the home decor style that best fits your personality and lifestyle. This two-minute quiz is going to give you the direction you need to start the big, bold room makeovers that you've always wanted to try!

    Find out now!

    Archives

    Latest YouTube Video

    [youtube]https://youtu.be/MjDoqQFoj9g[/youtube]

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure Policy
    • Terms of Service

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2009 - 2022 The DIY Mommy. "The DIY Mommy" is a registered trademark.