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Spring break has come and gone and many people hit the beach during this time of year. We come back home with a bag of seashells, the sound of the ocean waves crashing in our ears, and the smell of warm, summery air in our nostrils. Bring a little of that beachy feeling home even farther by making some rustic looking beach signs to dress up your home. Ideal for bathroom decor!
These signs are just simple slats of wood you can buy at the craft store. Mine actually started out with the primitive look, I made them when I still had my craft store back in 2003. They definitely needed updating, so I sanded them down as much as I could before getting started.
I originally made this project for JoAnn Fabrics via DecoArt. I used Americana acrylic paints in Buttermilk, Flesh Tone, Spa Blue, Mint Julep and Cool White. Americana actually has quite a few new colors that are very beach worthy as well, so I’ll be using some of those in the future.
First I gave them all a coat of Cool White and let them dry.
Then I painted each one with the different colors noted above.
I used Word to create the words surf, relax, beach and sand. If you don’t like the fonts that I chose, you can certainly make your own. :) If you like them, the Word pattern file is in the printable instructions below. Trim the words and place them on the slats.
Use a ball point pen, or a stylus if you have one, to trace around the words, pressing firmly to create indentations in the wood below.
This makes it a lot easier to paint your letters!
Use a liner brush to fill in the letters with Cool White. Note: You could probably use a white painter’s pen to do this too!
Dry brush some streaks across the surface.
Then do some sanding to create that weathered look. Sand lightly in some areas and harder in others.
You can see that I have sanded through some of the lettering as well as exposing the wood in the corners and on the edges.
It’s totally up to you how much you expose.
When you’re done sanding, brush them off really well so there’s no sanding dust left on them. Spray them with acrylic sealer in matte finish.
I used wall putty to hang mine, but you could certainly attach a picture hanger to the back.
Here are some close ups at different angles:
These would also be fun attached to a spike and placed in the yard or by the porch!
What you need:
- 4 – 7” x 3” wood slats
- Flat paintbrush
- liner paintbrush
- Toothpick
- Pattern for fonts
- Sandpaper, preferably a handheld power sander
- Buttermilk
- Flesh Tone
- Spa Blue
- Mint Julep Green
- Cool White
- font pattern
What you do:
- Paint wooden slats with Cool White paint.
- Paint each slat with a different color (Flesh Ton, Spa Blue, Mint Julep Green and Buttermilk).
- Use Word to create the words beach, surf, relax and sand or print out the pattern.
- Place each word onto a slat and trace the words using a ball point pen or a stylus, pressing firmly so as to create indents in the wood slat underneath.
- Use Cool White to paint the words.
- Dip flat paintbrush into Cool White and wipe off all of the excess paint onto a paper towel. You want to create a dry brushed looked, so lightly paint streaks across the surface of the slat.
- Sand the edges and lightly across the top of the slats to create a weathered look.
- Spray with an acrylic matte sealer.
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WOW! LOVE these so much!!
love these so very much!
Thank you Becky! :)
love your weathered beach signs amanda! :) they are great. Super tute too.
hope you’re having a great weekend!
gail
Very very nice. Tute was done so well even I could follow without once stopping and saying “What”. Nice job just like everything you do. Thanks so much.
These are stunning n expensive looking! Will be making these as soon as I can score some paints! TY Amanda!
What a surprise to find one of my very favorite pastimes.. making signs in my inbox. I never knew the trick w/ the ballpoint pen and the fonts on paper. I always did it free hand and ended up waisting as many signs as I made:) Happy! Happy Happy! Thank you Amanda!
These are great Amanda look so easy ,thank’s for great project as usual,,Fantastic Job!!!,,,
I’ve always wanted a beach house with beach signs!! Yours look great (and fun to do!).
Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing your super cute signs and tutorial!
What beautiful signs! Love the colors and the summery look! Reminds me of a beach house, just beautiful!!
These are so cute! I love your blog! I am off to pin your wonderful project!
Hi came across this tutorial via Stumble – I love it! They look great – thanks for sharing this :)
[...] the weathered beach signs. I love these, but also a lot more work than I [...]
These signs are GREAT! I’m a sign person and a beach person and wish I was crafty.lol
Wow! This is such an awesome project…. The signs look so cool!!luv it..
Thanks Ramya!
I love these! Can you tell me what fonts you used? I love the ones you picked but I need to use different words. Thanks!
Hi Christine! Here are the fonts in order of how they are listed on the PDF pattern :)
Baby Potato (MUST BE TYPED IN CAPS to render font)
Hecubus
harrison
English
Thank you thank you!
Wow, so creative! I love it!
genius idea on how to trasfer the letters! why have i never thought of that over the yrs!! love the signs and the fonts too!
Thanks Julie! Yes i’ve been using that method for years. Used to transfer whole patterns that way for tole painting :) but I used carbon paper to transfer it, so the indents just made sense!
[...] He had originally come to me through the tutorial I did for these Weathered Beach Signs. [...]
Love the signs and thanks so much for directions. Have been looking for a way to transfer! Just love your site and blog.
Thanks Kim!
i loove this and im in the process of doing it but i realized the lettering isnt big enough and i tried editing the fonts and making them bigger but it wont let me is there anyway you can make it bigger and send me the link?? id appreciate it !
Hi Brittany. Just use the enlarge feature on your copier :) or printer.
[...] 1. Weathered Beach Signs [...]
Could I purchase the 4 signs I would pay for sipping as we’ll. thanks
I’m sorry Jan. I was contracted to make those through DecoArt. Anything they contract me for, I ship the finished craft straight to them.
Wondering where the buttermilk comes in?
Hi Peggy! The buttermilk is the light color that looks like a pale yellow :) Hope that helps!
HI Amanda,
where did you get your wooden slats?
Also I cannot find the link to the fonts above that you mention. Can you tell me which ones you used?
How long do you let each layer dry?
Would sandpaper work alright, I don’t have a power sander?
Thanks!
Ashton, I am so sorry for the delay on replying to this! The wooden slats I bought at Michaels. The font link should now be fixed. I would allow for an hour between coats. Yes, sand paper is fine!
wow thanks a lot amanda! i’ve been looking for something like this for ages, but all the other methods were too hard! I’m wanting to transform my bedroom into a beach/nautical themed bedroom, so these are perfect. Thank you!
Glad you like them Georgia!
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! Thank you. I see where you listed the site to find the fonts, but when I “copy and paste”,I get an error message that the address is not valid. What am I doing wrong? Thanx so much…
Hi Penny! It should work fine now, sorry about that. If you still have trouble, email me amanda@craftsbyamanda.com I just moved my blogs to a private server and it may not be completely updated in your neck of the woods!