Hand painted Farmer's Market sign

 

I have been drooling over the signs in these photos for quite a while now, and I decided to create one for my own kitchen.  For those of you who know my family, we have been on special eating program called the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet for the past 6 months.  "GAPS what?" you say?  Well, you can google it for now, but I will be posting more about this amazing diet in the future.  We have become regulars at our local butcher and farmer's market and eat a lot of raw milk, organic fruits and veggies, and pastured eggs...thus the inspiration for my sign!  We also eat a lot of liver and fat too, but somehow these foods just don't have the same charm, do they?  Here is a quick tutorial to make a sign like mine.  Of course you can use any wording you like, but I'm including a pdf of my artwork if you want to recreate it exactly.

Tools:

• print out of artwork.  Download my artwork HERE.

• piece of reclaimed wood OR painted sign from craft store

• soft pencil or carbon paper

• acrylic craft paint - background color and text color

• paint brushes - I used an angled flat brush to help create the straight lines in the text, and a large foam brush for the background color

• thin chain for hanging

• picture hanging hardware

• cup hooks

1. Paint your piece of wood with your background color.  Rather then trying to find a piece of reclaimed wood somewhere, I found a sign at Hobby Lobby that was the perfect size and 50% off.  It had words already painted on it similar to this one, but I just painted my cream color right on top.

When painting the background, I didn't worry about perfectly straight edges...I like the rustic charm of the rough edges.

2. Enlarge artwork to the size of your wood, and print out in tiles.  Tape tiled print outs together where they line up.  In order to transfer the design to the wood, I like to use a soft pencil and color the backside of the artwork with it.  Make sure to cover all the outlines you will need to trace.  Alternately, you can skip this and just use a piece of carbon paper to transfer the design.

3. Once the paint on your sign is dry, place your print out over the surface, and line it up so that it's straight with the top and bottom edges.  Use tape to secure it, so it doesn't slip! With a pen trace the outlines of the artwork so that it transfers to the wood below.  Check periodically to make sure it is transferring...you may have to use some pressure when tracing.

4. Now that the outline of your artwork is transferred to the wood, you are ready to start painting!  Take your text color and paint inside your outlines.  I like to paint the outlines of each letter first and then fill in to ensure straight lines.  This may takes some patience, but I find the process to be very relaxing.

5. Attach picture hangers to the back, top corners of your sign, then hook one end of each chain to the picture hanger, and hang the other ends of the chains from cup hooks in your ceiling.

If you like you can rough it up with some sandpaper once it's all dry, or rub a little bit of stain or watered down paint onto the corners and outer edges for a more vintage look.  Since my house is very modern, I kept it clean.

And VOILA, my finished hand painted sign!  I love how it brings the eye upward and fills the space without creating a wall.  It was super easy to make, and now one of my favorite pieces because I made it personal.