Easy Farmhouse Pantry Sign DIY Vinyl Project

This is such an easy project! Too pretty Farmhouse Pantry sign was completed in one hour over a 2 day period. You can definitely do this, below are the steps and at the bottom is a full list of materials and photos with tips!

Project: Easy Farmhouse Pantry Sign DIY

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Steps:

1. Buy a Wood sign base, I bought mine at Hobby Lobby when it was on sale, mine is 5.5 x 26.5 inches

2. Buy or cut out letters with your craft cutting machine to make the word Pantry, here is a link to my Cricut project information so that if you have a Cricut & want to use this font you can save time using my template, you must be a Cricut member and be logged into to get to it: link to Cricut ). If you buy letters be sure they fit within the size of your wood base. I used one 12x10 inch piece for all of the letters by grouping every two letters together.

3. To create the rustic wood look:

4. Stain the base in a gray wash then immediately wiped off the excess with a paper towel and let it dry for 20 minutes, this can be a wash you buy or make (a bit of black with white paint & water to thin it down works fine).

5. I then added two layers of crackle medium painting in the direction of the wood grain in one direction (do not sweep back & forth) and let it dry in between coats, it took about 20 minutes under a fan for each coat, it's dry when it no longer looks glossy! Let it dry.

6. Then I painted a coat of white, painting in the direction of the wood grain in one direction (do not sweep back & forth) and let it dry.

7. Next finished with clear coat, I chose a matt finished polyurethane but you can use any clear you have including spray paint. I use the clear coat so that when I transfer the paint won't lift back off and so that I can change the sign words in the future if I want to without damaging the base. Allow it to dry overnight minimum (this step is critical or the paint will lift off when you attempt to transfer the vinyl)!!

8. Then apply the PANTRY vinyl to your sign, use non permanent vinyl if you want to be able to change it later. It's important that when you transfer you use less tacky transfer tape (to remove tackiness you can pressing the tape against your palms before placing it on the vinyl).

You can also do this using other materials for your letters such as bass wood, veneer, chip board, pattern paper, etc. whatever your machine can handle that you like to use.

Materials that I used, links are provided where I can to help you locate them more easily, all links are affiliated and while they do not cost. you more to use, they do help support the cost of my blog.

Wood Base: I found mine at Hobby Lobby made by Wood Pile, I have not found this exact item on line, I recommend waiting for Hobby Lobby or Michaels, etc to have a sale! Any wood base works in the size you want.

Cheap flat brush, I buy a bag of mixed craft brushes at Walmart, yes, Walmart and they work great costing pennies per brush. I used a 2 inch flat brush but you can use a larger one too. Just wash it in warm soapy water and dry using paper towels or a rag after each coat, the brush will last for a long time!

Paper towels to wipe off the excess stain

Wood stain: I used DecoArt Vintage effects wash

Crackle Medium: I used some Martha Stewart Crackle as that is what I had on hand however I find it expensive and would recommend FolkArt's Crackle, it works the same or better for a much lower price!

White acrylic craft paint - I used FolkArt White Multipurpose, I do not recommend acrylic tube paints because they are typically thicker than craft paints and you want the crackle finish to be able to separate the paint during the drying process.

Clear top coat: I use MiniWax's Polycrylic because it's water based for easy cleanup and that's what I have on hand, yes it's a great product but so are Krylon, Rust-Oleum, Varathane.. they are all very much the same. You just need to decide if you prefer to brush on your top coat or spray it on, then buy any name brand in the local hardware or Walmart store, which will be the best price you can usually get. If you don't have a store near you you can buy it one from Rust-Oleum on Amazon here. Currently the Matt MiniWax product is not available through Amazon to link to at a reasonable price!

For the letters:

I used Cricut Removable Vinyl in a matt finish, OR you can use Cricut Permanent Vinyl Glossy Finish or any brand you want. You need 1 sheet 12x10 to duplicate what I did in the same size.

Transfer tape: I used Cricut Transfer tape, another cheap option is Contact Clear paper, it works for many types of transfers where you don't need a lot of tack to complete like a wood or even a glass project.

Tips:

As soon as I brush on the stain I wipe the excess off with a paper towel

When you want the wood grain to still show be sure to paint in the same direction as the grain!

When using a Crackle finish I find it works best when I apply two Coats & use a Craft paint for the top coat.

By using a stain base in gray, two coats of Crackle medium & a Craft paint I get a beautiful crackle finish!

One sheet will cut all of the letters, just be sure to line them up carefully when transferring.

I hope you enjoyed this project, check out some of my other how to blog & articles, let's make something beautiful today!!