Catch some staycation time at the lake on a rustic sign using Americana® Acrylics.

SUPPLIES

• transfer paper
• sandpaper
• ruler
• flat brush
• painter's tape
• craft knife
• Silhouette electronic cutting machine
• screws
• wood boards
• table saw
• cotton swabs
• drill and drill bits
• patina

INSTRUCTIONS

NOTES:

Let dry completely between painting steps.

1. Cut the 1" x 12" board to 3' using a chop saw or table saw. Paint the board using Buttermilk. (It doesn't have to be perfect, but should be mostly covered.) Allow to dry. Use the Silhouette file provided to cut out the fish design. Attach it to the wood, evenly spaced, using transfer paper.

2. Paint over the stencil using Uniform Blue. Remove the stencil promptly.

3. Use painter's tape to create a 1/4" border around the outside of the sign. Paint the edge with brown and then remove the painter's tape. (It does not need to be perfect; it will be sanded in the next step.)

4. Sand the entire surface, pressing harder in some areas than others so it looks uneven and weathered.

5. Use brown to add distress to the exposed wood. Apply and wipe repeatedly to keep it from drying too harshly on the sign.

6. Use a long straight edge or ruler to cut a few grooves along the sign from one short end to the other. (This will make it look liked planked wood put together, rather than one big piece of wood. It gives it texture.)

7. See photo: The piece should look like this when done. (I put in three grooves.) Be careful not to remove much wood where the letters won't be legible if the wood is missing. (I skipped over the word "at" with the grooving.)

8. Use a cotton swab to apply brown to the grooves to make them stand out better from the surface. Wipe off the excess.

9. Drill bolts or screws, two on each side, into the sign to look like the original hardware. (Make sure they are a little less deep than the sign depth. You don't want screws poking out on the back of the wall hanging, scratching the walls.)

10. Optional: Use a patina, if desired, to age the screws to a darker color. (You can also just use darker weathered screws if you would like, but since I used new screws, I wanted to give them a weathered look.)
11. Attach the wall mounting hardware.

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