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Lolly Jane

How to Make a Gather Wood Sign | Tutorial

DIY· Vinyl Lettering

11 Aug

Hi guys!  We’ve had LOTS of inquiries on Instagram about our newest gather wood sign so we thought a tutorial would be helpful to show you what we did.

Pretty farmhouse dining room shelves, click through to see how easily the room came together. Step by step how to create this look! Pretty farmhouse dining room decor ideas! DIY farmhouse shelves using stain + paint! | Shop now: https://www.etsy.com/listing/243648125/gather-wooden-sign

We got so excited about this sign at night (bad lighting) that I didn’t take the step-by-step how to pics BUT we have this video below which is the basic how-to on building a frame: (Warning: Turn your speakers down!)

View this post on Instagram

There are so many ways to make signs! This guy was needed in my new entryway mini makeover, a message for my kiddos. We typically brad nail our edges together but my air compressor is being naughty so wood glue it is! Also, this wood is super cheap which means it's super rough so there is extra leakage..good thing I like 'em distressed! Note: we forgot to share the transfer tape picture, we did use it to transfer the vinyl to wood. Lots of fun using #bbfrosch, mixing black + brown to make a stain, painting white on top, after sanding/distressing we sealed with a wax so that rough wood is soft to the touch. All in a day's work! #signmakers #ljlovesbbf #handmade #entryway #behrpaint #bbfroschmaster #MadeWithCreativeMarket #lollysigns

A post shared by Kristi + Kelli ⌂ Lolly Jane (@lollyjaneblog) on May 22, 2015 at 2:10pm PDT

Our hello sign was originally shared on Instagram.  Keep in mind the video is showing inexpensive wood so it’s rough to work with.  You can use any wood that’s in your price range, the video is what we had leftover from previous projects.  >>> And if you’d like to buy our Gather sign, know it’s made with top quality wood, carefully stenciled with no bleeding and nicely distressed!

Supplies to make a wood sign:

This particular sign is sized a 2′ x 3′ from frame to frame so pick your size accordingly.

  • sheet of wood (we use higher quality for selling, we used pressed plywood in the video which is rough)
  • furring strips for the frame
  • chalk paint
  • paint brush
  • wax
  • wax brush
  • stencil (We used a paid font called Starstruck, our current fav! We use an industrial cutter for signs.)
  • sander
  • wood glue or brad nailer (video uses glue, we were out of nails but our signs in the shop are secured with nails)

Pretty farmhouse dining room shelves, click through to see how easily the room came together. Step by step how to create this look! Pretty farmhouse dining room decor ideas! DIY farmhouse shelves using stain + paint! | Shop now: https://www.etsy.com/listing/243648125/gather-wooden-sign

How to make a wood sign:

  • Cut strips to size, sand then paint. TIP: Paint the sides too so you don’t have unpainted edges!
  • Paint body of sign, let dry.
  • Apply stencil from vinyl cutter, let dry.
  • Distress lettering and edges.
  • Attach sides using glue or brad nails.

Pretty farmhouse dining room shelves, click through to see how easily the room came together. Step by step how to create this look! Pretty farmhouse dining room decor ideas! DIY farmhouse shelves using stain + paint! | Shop now: https://www.etsy.com/listing/243648125/gather-wooden-sign

Pretty easy, right!

Pretty farmhouse dining room shelves, click through to see how easily the room came together. Step by step how to create this look! Pretty farmhouse dining room decor ideas! DIY farmhouse shelves using stain + paint! | Shop now: https://www.etsy.com/listing/243648125/gather-wooden-sign

Shop our gather signs:

Our gather collection is now available in our etsy shop per your request!

  • Large Gather Wood Sign 2’x3′‘
  • Gather Wood Sign 12″x24″
  • Mini Gather Wood Sign 12″x12″
  • Gather Digital Download Printable

Thanks for supporting handmade!

Stay tuned for the full reveal of this farmhouse dining room transformation! Check out the before of this room and our fun wallpapered after…

Faux wood wallpaper from Walls Republic, a fast alternative to shiplap or planked walls. Looks so good in this farmhouse dining room! Come see the full before/after room reveal!

and how our farmhouse dining room looks right now:

Gorgeous farmhouse dining room. All the tips to achieve this look without breaking the bank! Love the aqua dining room accents and the farmhouse pendants too! Pretty neutral dining room ideas!

plus how we built the farmhouse shelves, so easy!

Pretty farmhouse dining room shelves, click through to see how easily the room came together. Step by step how to create this look! Pretty farmhouse dining room decor ideas! DIY farmhouse shelves using stain + paint!

Disclosure: Being DIY bloggers and also shop owners, we realize we suffer from a double edge sword. We LOVE sharing our ideas with you, we LOVE when you duplicate them.  We are saddened when we are copied and given no credit back to the original source.  We lose credibility when other see the copied version and think WE copied the source they saw.  So please, if you’re going to use our ideas, credit us! This is our job and our families depend on the income we provide them sharing fun and easy ideas with you! Thank you!! XO

31 Comments

About Lolly Jane

Meet Kelli & Kristi, twin sisters and authors of Lolly Jane. We are two busy wives + mommas who are makers of all things pretty. From signs to home decor and holiday crafts or redoing furniture in between soccer practices, we do it all all while armed with an ice cold Diet Coke. Join us in our DIY adventures! XOXO

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jenn says

    06/06/2018 at 8:12 am

    Hi! I was wondering how thick the wood is that you use? Im having a wood sign painting party and I want to stay in budget, but don’t also don’t want the wood to be too thin. Thanks for your advice!!

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      06/06/2018 at 3:55 pm

      Hi Jenn, we use 1/4″ birch 🙂 Happy crafting!

      Reply
  2. Erin Wolfe says

    01/18/2018 at 10:29 am

    I was wondering how you decide what size to make the font? do you eye ball it? or change the size of the sign to fit the size letters you want?

    Thanks for this tutorial!!

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      01/21/2018 at 11:13 pm

      Hi Erin! We create the inner frame size first then size the design accordingly 🙂

      Reply
  3. Michelle says

    09/04/2017 at 10:42 pm

    How wide are the furring strips you use for the frame?

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      09/05/2017 at 8:36 am

      They’re 1″ x 2″ 🙂

      Reply
  4. Lauren says

    04/06/2017 at 6:32 pm

    What type of hanging hardware do you use on the back?! I just made my first sign but have no clue how to hang it.

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      04/07/2017 at 12:00 am

      Hi Lauren!
      We just use a sawtooth hanger from the hardware store 🙂

      Reply
  5. Ashlie says

    03/19/2017 at 8:04 pm

    Hi there! I love this sign! Each time I use vinyl, the under layer (stain or paint) come up with it once I’m finished painting the stencil part. It leaves not so pretty lines of the wood underneath. Do you run into this problem?

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      03/20/2017 at 9:04 pm

      Hi Ashlie, make sure it dries really well then peel up slowly. Make sure your paint/stain is new as well. Good luck 🙂

      Reply
  6. Kristi says

    03/10/2017 at 2:23 pm

    There’s a link for printable but it’s not there. I’d like to print the gather with a wreath around it. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      03/12/2017 at 10:17 pm

      Hi Kristi! Thanks for the heads up about the link, I’ve updated it (:
      You can get the print from our shop (https://www.etsy.com/listing/294653821/gather-printable-instant-download?ref=shop_home_feat_3) or make your own print with the font and graphics shown in the post. Enjoy!

      Reply
  7. Renee says

    10/06/2016 at 4:21 am

    Can you tell me how you distressed the letter?

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      10/06/2016 at 8:46 am

      With a palm sander (:

      Reply
  8. Amanda says

    10/04/2016 at 8:40 pm

    Do you still sale the gather stencil?

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      10/06/2016 at 8:47 am

      Email us (:

      [email protected]

      Reply
  9. Allie says

    09/07/2016 at 2:56 am

    Hi! Thank you so much for the tutorial! I have a lot of the same questions that others had below, regarding the bleeding do I will give your tips a try. One other question I had was about the stencil itself. Do you have to make a new stencil for each sign you make or is there a way you have found to reuse them? That is a concern I have when thinking of possibly opening a shop and making multiple. Any advice would be so appreciated!

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      09/07/2016 at 1:59 pm

      Hi Allie!

      We don’t use reusable stencils, we cut per sign and toss it. They’re made from vinyl and it’s an affordable way to create stencils when we buy in bulk. Af far as bleeding, we use quality birch or pine wood and press our stencil hard then rub it down with a squeegee. I made 7 signs today and didn’t have any bleeding. It takes a little practice is all (:

      Good luck!

      Reply
  10. Rebecca Kunz says

    08/19/2016 at 9:08 am

    Can’t wait to make this gather sign for my home! Would it be possible to buy a stencil from y’all? Do you sell something like that on etsy? I was going to use my cricut to cut out regular vinyl and make a stencil (purchased the starstruck font) but I am worried that it will be too complicated trying to get the vinyl on straight. I understand if this is not something you want to do. Just curious. Love this blog btw!

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      08/19/2016 at 4:43 pm

      Hi Rebecca! Yes, visit our shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/244250517/gather-stencil-only A 12″ cutter would be difficult for sure. So glad you like it! XO

      Reply
  11. Jenny says

    05/29/2016 at 7:01 am

    thank tou so much for the tutorial!
    I was just wondering if you apply the wax after you’re all done with everything, or before you do the stenciling? I’m doing a chalk paint for the background and acrylic for lettering.
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      05/29/2016 at 12:14 pm

      Hi Jen!

      We apply the wax after. Think of it as painting your nails and it’s the “top coat”. It’s a sealer for your hard work. LMK if you have any more q’s. Happy crafting!!

      (:

      Reply
  12. Krystal says

    04/27/2016 at 9:06 pm

    Hi there, love this tutorial and has really inspired me to try something similar to put in my new home. I’m struggling to find the perfect font size, what size did you use for this sign ?

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      04/27/2016 at 10:16 pm

      Hi Krystal, it’s roughly 28″ x 14″ Good luck!

      Reply
  13. Brianne says

    04/06/2016 at 8:02 am

    Hi I just came across your tutorial and am so excited to give it a try! I was wondering how you cleaned up the places where your letters had bled? In the video I couldn’t tell what you did to get rid of the bleeding once you’d already stenciled the letters onto the board. Thanks for any help you can give me, this seems to be my biggest problem whenever I’ve tried to make a sign.

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      04/08/2016 at 11:31 am

      Hi Brianna!

      We use a really high quality wood like birch or the more expensive pine. It’ll create a nicer seal with your vinyl stencil to prevent bleeding. Just press your stencil really hard onto the wood, apply two LIGHT coats and you shouldn’t have any bleeding (:

      Good luck!

      Reply
  14. Kandis says

    01/31/2016 at 5:51 pm

    Would you mind sharing what type of cutter/stencil medium you use to achieve a no bleed look on the lettering? I’ve followed your tutorial and tried a few different kinds of vinyl but it’s either to flimsy or too thick. Is there an easy way I’m missing? Trying to do a larger version for my home. Thx so much!!

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      01/31/2016 at 10:56 pm

      Hi Kandis! We use an Enduracut machine with Arlon vinyl. A great tip if you’re having bleeding is to “paint” inside the stencil with decoupage which will create a seal. When it’s dry, paint inside your stencil with your acrylic and/or chalk paint and then immediately remove the stencil. Hope that helps!!

      Reply
  15. Kathleen says

    11/19/2015 at 8:08 pm

    What kind of industrial cutter do you use?

    Reply
    • Lolly Jane says

      11/20/2015 at 10:23 am

      Hi Kathleen!
      We have a 24″ Enduracut Vinyl Cutter 🙂

      http://www.signwarehouse.com/c/vinyl-express-enduracut2-desktop-vinyl-cutters

      Reply
  16. Jaesie says

    10/14/2015 at 3:00 pm

    Hi there!
    I was just wondering if you know the color of aqua blue you used on this gather sign? I would love to use this color on a chalk paint project I’m doing. Thanks! ????

    Reply

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WELCOME TO LOLLY JANE
We're Kelli and Kristi, identical twin sister DIYers to love to create and spruce up our spaces on a budget. Our eclectic blog is where we share it all... from home decor, crafts, furniture revamps, awesome project roundups, tasty recipes and more...all while armed with an ice cold Diet Coke!
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