This beautiful DIY lettered pallet “O Holy Night” sign is the perfect addition to any holiday decor! Make one for yourself today!
Hey y'all! I'm so excited about this project today. I finally made my first pallet stenciled sign for myself!! I made one for one of my best friends a few years ago for her wedding, and I've wanted to make another ever since, but this time I'm keeping it!
As I was getting the vision for my Christmas mantel this year, I mulled over a few ideas, and then this one stuck:
A big star and a big stenciled lettered pallet sign.
“O Holy Night” is now offered as a free printable!
Side note: Is it weird that I get visions for my mantels? Most people probably just frame a few family photos and call it a day, but I love changing mine out for each season. And a vision begins weeks or even months before I finally start decorating.
OK, back to the sign. I really love these because I already have all the tools to make them. And I have pallets sitting in my garage that I got for free. So really, this large, personalized sign cost me a roll of contact paper, a roll of transfer tape and a little paint and Mod Podge. Maybe $15 tops. That's my favorite kind of project!
I created a tutorial when I first made the signs for my friend, but I'll recreate it for you today just for fun.
Supplies for Making an O Holy Night Sign:
- pallet boards, or any boards (I take apart my pallets with a reciprocating saw. I love this one! Just be warned, you'll need a few blades to demolish a pallet or two. They eat up a blade in no time.)
- miter saw, optional (I have this basic one, and it works great for all my needs.)
- drill & screws
- stain
- sander (this one is my favorite for evening out rough pallet boards and getting off all kinds of crazy stuff)
- Silhouette Cameo (or another cutting machine)
- Vinyl or contact paper
- Transfer paper
- Mod Podge and foam brush
- paint
- paint brush
- O Holy Night cut file
How to Make a DIY Lettered Pallet Sign
1. Gather Supplies
OK, first things first: gather your boards and decide what size you want your sign. Mine is 2' x 3'. I just pulled the boards off a pallet with my reciprocating saw and lined them up to make the sign I wanted.
Nothing fancy or overcomplicated. If you need to cut your boards to fit your dimensions, I highly recommend a miter saw like the one I have, but a circular saw would work too.
2. Clean and Sand the Boards
Clean your boards and sand them to get rid of any rough edges or markings you don't want.
3. Arrange the Boards & Add Supports
Then lay them out to see how they fit together. Once they're arranged the way you want, take a scrap piece of wood and screw it into each board along the back. Do this twice so your sign will be sturdy and won't fall apart.
4. Stain the Sign
I knew I wanted to stain my board so the stain would show when I removed the letters. This will all make more sense in a minute. But you'll need to decide what color or stain you want your letters to be. I chose Provincial by Minwax, a medium to dark brown.
5. Design Lyrics in the Silhouette Cameo
Then I designed my lyrics in my Silhouette Cameo. I set my work area to the size of my board and played with the sizes and placement of the words. I used one of my favorite new fonts: Isabella.
6. Cut the Vinyl Lyrics with the Silhouette
Since my board is larger than my contact paper sheet, I ungrouped my words and cut them out separately. Then I used my original layout to eyeball placing the words on the board. You could also skip the cutting mat, feed the contact paper through and cut half the sign in one pass and the other half in a second pass. Like this …
That would have been much easier than what I did, but I wasn't smart enough to think of it at the time. I think it was also after midnight when I was working on this, so my brain was fried!
I used contact paper (or shelf liner) as my vinyl because it's cheaper, and in the end I'm just going to throw it away.
The picture above shows the transfer tape with the contact paper lettering being placed on the board. Then I make sure the contact paper is pressed firmly onto the board, and slowly remove the transfer paper.
Side note: I tried to find a cheaper alternative to the transfer paper, like lint brush sheets and other contact paper, but in my opinion nothing works better than the real Silhouette brand transfer paper. The great thing is you can reuse a piece over and over. Even though it's $10 a roll, I used two pieces for my whole sign. It'll last me a long time.
7. Place Lyrics on the Board and Remove Transfer Tape
When every word is in place, run a scraper tool over each letter to make sure it's pressed down nice and tight.
8. Seal the Letters with Mod Podge
Then you'll use my special trick to make sure no paint even thinks about getting under a letter: Mod Podge!
It's super easy. Just brush Mod Podge over each letter, making sure to brush in all directions. That way, if there's a bubble or a letter isn't quite stuck down, the Mod Podge will fill the gap and seal it. And since it dries clear, you'll never even see it!
It dries super quick.
9. Paint Over Letters
Then you just paint over everything!
I was lazy and just grabbed the nearest white paint. Since I was in the middle of painting my cabinets, it's satin enamel, which isn't my first choice for a pallet sign. Oops. It was late, like I said.
If I had to do it over, I would have taken 10 extra steps and grabbed some white chalky paint. I think that would have given a better texture than the somewhat glossy cabinet paint. But hey! You win some, you lose some. Late-night motivational battles, that is.
10. Remove Vinyl Letters
Then, using a hook tool, peel off the vinyl letters or contact paper letters. Whatever. And reveal the beautiful stain behind them!
See how clean and crisp those lines are, thanks to the scraper tool and the Mod Podge?! I love it!
And you're done!
Now just stand back and admire your new beauty. I couldn't love it any more if I tried!
I'll just have to make another DIY lettered pallet sign next that I can leave up the other 11 months of the year. Hmmm, what will I make next? Any ideas??
Tap HERE to get the "O Holy Night" FREE cut file
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