DIY Rustic Wood "BEACH" Sign

Supplies Needed:

• Unfinished wood sign (I found this one at Dollar Tree!)
• White Acrylic Paint
• Paint Palette (or small bowl)
• 1” Flat Paint Brush
• Chalkola Acrylic Paint Markers (Taffy, Orchid, Yellow, Turquoise, Lt. Blue)
• Scratch Paper
• Pencil & Eraser
• Paper Towel

Chalkola was so kind to send me a 20 pack of their Acrylic Paint Markers to test out. These pens are amazing! The colors are incredibly bright and the ink flows really well.  I wanted to create a project that would show off their vibrant colors so I created this wood "BEACH" sign. If you would like to try out these pens for yourself, I'm excited to offer an exclusive 10% discount when you use code MELISSAC10 at www.chalkola.com. 

Instructions:
We’re going to start off by painting our sign with white acrylic paint. To give it a more rustic weathered look; we’re going to use a dry brush technique. Pour a small amount of paint into your palette. Dip the tip of your brush into the paint and dab any excess off with a paper towel. 

With a horizontal motion start making strokes of paint across your sign. You don’t want to completely cover it with paint. Having some of the unfinished wood peeking through is a good thing!

Continue painting until you achieve your desired level of distressing. 

Set the sign aside to dry.

Once the paint has dried, we will begin the lettering.

TIP: I like to trace the shape of my sign onto a piece of scratch paper and then use this to mock up my design. This will give you a better idea of the size and placement of your letters.  

With your pencil, lightly write out your letters onto the sign. Try to center your lettering so there are no awkward spaces. Once you have your design penciled in, lightly erase it so you can only faintly see the outline of your design. 

Next you will go over each letter with a different color Chalkola Acrylic Paint Marker. I used the following colors: B = Taffy, E = Orchid, A = Pineapple, C = Turquoise, H = Light Blue.

I'm using a "faux calligraphy" style of lettering. Remember your upstrokes should be thin and your downstrokes should be thick. 

Set your sign aside to dry completely before hanging. I hope you've enjoyed this DIY tutorial! Leave me a comment below if you have any questions.