DIY Hand-Painted Pallet Signs

These DIY pallet signs make a beautiful gift that will be treasured for years to come! Or you can make one for yourself and enjoy the handmade charm in your own home.

I know I've been promising to share the gift I made for my friends' wedding last weekend, and I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer! A couple of months before her wedding, my friend Lara asked me if I would make some signs with special Scriptures on them for the big day.

She also wanted to be able to hang them in her home afterward. Isn't that such a great idea? I love being able to use something for an event and then keep enjoying it after the party is over. And a handmade gift sounded perfect!

Materials Needed to Make DIY Pallet Signs

wood planks from a pallet or the hardware store
Kreg Jig (A must-have tool for any serious DIYer!)
Contact paper
Silhouette Cameo or stencils (I love my Cameo for creating custom stencils.)
Painter's tape or Transfer Paper
Mod Podge
Foam paint brush
Paint

How to Make a DIY Pallet Sign

1. Remove Pallet Boards

First, I took my boards off the pallet. I use my DEWALT Reciprocating Saw with a demolition blade for cutting through wood and nails. A sharp, new blade will cut through the pallet joints very easily. Sometimes I knock the boards loose with a hammer first and then cut through them with the saw.

2. Arrange Board Placement

Once I had cut off enough boards, I laid them side-by-side on the ground to make sure they fit together well. I had to rearrange them a few times to make them work.

3. Attach Boards with Kreg Jig

I used my Kreg Jig to attach my pallet planks to each other. In my opinion, if you do any kind of woodworking, a Kreg Jig is a must. It's my favorite tool in my garage. And it makes attaching wood side-by-side and creating joints a breeze!

4. Reinforce with Support Boards

Once they were all attached, I added a couple of reinforcements to the back of one sign. If you don't have a Kreg Jig, you can use this method entirely. Just get a couple of scrap wood pieces that run the width of your sign and screw them into each board. I did this with my pallet sign on my mantel before I had my Kreg Jig.

5. Sand Down Rough Edges

Then I sanded my signs with my orbital sander. I didn't get a picture of this step, but it's pretty straightforward.

I wiped off the sawdust with a damp cloth and brought them inside.

6. Paint Signs the Text Color

I painted them a beautiful green color that the bride picked out. It's called Pantone Online Lime, and I had them mix me a sample pot of it at Lowe's.

7. Create Vinyl Letters

Now, here comes the time-consuming part…

I'll try to explain how I designed the typography on the signs, but I'm such a novice at Photoshop Elements and my Silhouette Cameo. So, don't laugh at me. This is me winging it… and maybe you're a winger too, so you'll get it. A winger, not a swinger … just making sure you're still with me.

I started in Photoshop Elements, because I knew I could create a document with the same measurements as my board. That way all of my letters would be to scale.

Then I just started designing my signs. I used two fonts: Cochin and Chopin Script.

Once everything was arranged just the way I wanted, I went into my Silhouette Studio software, used the same font size I had in Photoshop Elements, and cut my words out of plain white contact paper. The last time I made a sign with my Silhouette, a kind reader pointed out that I could use contact paper or shelf liner for adhesive stencils. And it worked like a charm!

I used this tutorial from Shanty to Chic for my Silhouette settings. The only thing I changed was setting my blade to level 2 instead of level 1. That way it cut through the sticky layer of the contact paper without cutting through the backing.

8. Place Vinyl Lettering on the Board

Then I removed each letter one at a time and placed it on the board.

Let me tell you … this took forever! {Update: now I know I could have used transfer paper, which would have been … awesome!!}

{I used painter's tape as a guide to keep my words from looking wonky.}

The script letters took the longest to place because of all the squiggly lines, but I love the script, so it was worth it. I finally got smart with the second sign and realized I could pull the backing off the whole word, and the sticky side would stay in place as I pressed it down on the board. Then I just peeled up anything that was unwanted. Much faster. {Sorry I didn't get a pic of this process.}

9. Paint over All Letters with Mod Podge

Once all of my letters were down, I used a trick I found from Sugar Bee Crafts. I painted around all of my letters with Mod Podge! That way, if there was any bleed under the stencils, it would be clear Mod Podge and not white paint. How handy!!

You can see the white stuff around "Beauty," "ashes" and "Joy" in the picture below. That's the secret ingredient doing its trick!

I let the Mod Podge dry.

10. Paint Over the Sign with Background Color

Then I took some Sherwin Williams Antique White paint I had on hand and dry-brushed it on in all different directions. I wanted a thin coat so the green would come through in spots.

(Yes, I know that "dispair" is misspelled. #facepalm)

11. Peel Off Vinyl Lettering

After the white had dried most of the way, I peeled off the white contact paper to reveal the beautiful green beneath. I didn't wait for it to dry completely, because I probably forgot to mention that I was finishing these up at 2 am, the day I was leaving for the wedding. Um, yeah … maybe I should have started these a little sooner.

I always say I do my best work on a deadline!

But I absolutely love them – a million times over – and how they turned out. I've been wanting to make some for my master bedroom for years … and now that I've tried it out on a friend, I think I can do it for myself. Ha!

Just a little note: there was some bleeding under the stencils where the letters overlapped where two boards met, but I thought it looked fine. If you don't want that to happen, then you probably shouldn't have letters overlapping two boards.

I love how all of the thin scripty parts came out. Can you have a crush on "scripty parts?" I think you can. Swoon!

Seriously, this is my favorite DIY project yet, and I don't say that about every one. I can't wait to make more. I'm going to keep saying that until I do make more.

Are you wondering what these looked like at the wedding?

I was too busy having fun to remember to snap a picture. But one of the other bridesmaids happened to grab one with her iPhone, so I'll share what I've got.

This was on the table as guests entered the wedding.