Farmers Market Sign
Hello there! I am back and getting lots of projects done to share with you all here in the next few days!!! The project I am sharing today is probably one of my favorite DIY projects I have done to date. I love old signs. Like really, really love them. I feel like they add so much character to a room. I have been wanting one in my kitchen for a while now but I could never find one that was reasonably priced or had the simplicity of what I wanted., so I decided to try and make my own. Surprisingly, this was very simple to do, but it is a little time consuming so it did take a few days to finish. The end product was definitely worth it though!
I started by going to Home Depot and buying just a raw board that was good size for the sign I wanted. It was perfect in width but a little bit too long, so I just make the necessary adjustments with our jigsaw. If you don’t have a saw at home, Home Depot will cut it for you for free, all you have to do is ask! I knew I was going to sand the end product to make it look old so I stained the board first with my favorite Minwax Wood Finish in Dark Walnut, therefore when I sanded it, you would see the dark wood instead of the light raw board.
After the stain was dry, I painted over it with Martha Stewart Crafts Ivory antique paint that I purchased at Michaels. While that was drying I went to my computer and played around with different fonts for the sign. I wanted it to read Farmers Market to go along with the my farmhouse design style. The font I used is called Modern No. 20. When you print out the letters you want to rotate them so they are reversed and backwards, so when you place the letters on the sign, the ink is on the back of the paper and your words are directed correctly. Once you have them positioned on your sign as you want it to read, tape them down.
In order for the letters to transfer onto your board, you will use a small paint brush, dip it into water, and simply brush over each letter until it is wet enough for the letter to stick to the board. Then you want to use the cap of a Sharpie to lightly scribble over the letters.
The ink from the paper will transfer onto your board to give you a faded template to paint over.
I then used black craft paint and very tiny paint brushes to hand paint in the letters. I let it dry overnight then used a fine grit sandpaper block to give it the old effect I love. I hope you love my DIY Farmers Market Sign as much as I do!!!
What are the dimensions on your sign? Love the size it came out great!
Fabulous job! This custom hand painted sign looks wonderful, You guys always come up with some creative ideas that always blow up my mind. Thumbs up.
im glad you shared these beautiful tips…loved this idea..
Love this sign!! I am also curious as to what size font you used. I see that it’s been a while since you posted this so not sure if you remember or not.
What size font did you use? Thank you š
Hi There,
I just bought the same MS paint as you did. Did you dilute it all? Or just use as is? Also did you dry brush it on or do anything to give it the nice effect yours has?
Sorry for all of the questions. I just really like it and want to try and get the same look.
So sorry for the delayed response Pat! I didn’t dilute the paint at all! I just used a sponge brush and painted it as normal. I get the worn look by going over the whole board once its painted with dry letters with my sander. That is where the magic happens! Let me know if you have any other questions!
Ashley you are so talented! Love this sign and all your other diy’s! Question, where do I get that font?
hey ashley, this worked great! Also where did you get your kitchen chairs from around the table, i need 2 and i love yours. Thanks!
Glad it worked out! The chairs are windsor back from Overstock.com! I still love them š
Hi Ashley! This application did not work for me either. The ink didn’t transfer over. Not sure if the type of printer ink matters? I did everything else exactly how you placed it too. Gorgeous sign though!
Not sure but the ink did not transfer to the wood. I printed the letters from a ink jet printer, taped it down, applied water on it and traced over it with the sharpie just like the instructions. When I peeled the paper back, nothing!! Is there a time limit from when I print the graphic to the water down process??
Oh no! I’m so sorry you are having trouble! This may be a silly question, but did you flip the letters backwards on your computer program (I used Word) before you printed them? The ink has to touch the wood, then you brush over the non-ink side of the paper. If that makes no sense, shoot me an email ([email protected]). Thanks Tina!
Iām thinking that you used an inkjet printer and not a laser printer?
Yes, inkjet!
This looks great! Thank you for sharing your project. Do you think you could do this on canvas instead of wood?
Thanks so much Stacey! I have not tried it out on canvas, but I could see it possibly working! The only thing I would be nervous about would be the ink bleeding on the canvas when you paint over it with the water to transfer the letters. If you try, please let me know how it works!
This is FABULOUS!!!!! I will certainly be trying this out. I think it would work great as a wedding shower gift as well using the bride’s future last name!
Hi Ashley, love this project! What a great idea for someone who doesn’t have a silhouette machine. I am enjoying reading through your blog!
Beautiful sign! So you print the word on normal printer paper and then just by dabbing a brush and water and painting over it the ink goes on to the wood?
I never knew the trick about using water on your paper to transfer the ink! So cool! And your sign is absolutely lovely š
LOVE IT! I am getting ready to do something similar for a sign in the chicken coop! Figures crossed it turns out as fabulous as yours š
Thanks Emma!!! I’m sure yours will turn out perfect!!! Send me pics!!!
That is pretty awesome, and looks SUPER simple. keep up the blog, it looks like it’s going great! š
Thanks so much Chris!!! And it was super easy! I appreciate the kind words!!! š
Do you have a link I can use to print the reverse farmers market sign.
Thank you