Layered Design Sign Tutorial

I have seen all these amazing signs lately and I've wanted one for my living room, on my big, red, empty wall, for a very long time! My mother-in-law got rid of a few signs that she had in her house and gave me this one, but with it being red and have a giant red wall, I needed to change it. Here's what I did. And, yes, I used my Cricut, but it's NOT necessary!

Supplies:

* Board for your sign

* Primer (Not totally necessary, but I had to cover the red and black paint, it also holds your paint onto the wood better.)

* Three Colors of your favorite paint, or more! (I used what I had on hand, including the free pint I got from Glidden last year!)

*Paint supplies (brush, clean area, whatever you use.)

* Masking Tape/Painter's Tape

* Contact Paper/Vinyl (You can find pre-cut letters at Michaels, Joann's and Hobby Lobby, you can also do it the old fashioned way and print off your letters on your computer, and then trace and cut on your vinyl/contact paper. Whatever works for you.)

Step 1: Paint one coat of Primer and two coats of the color your want your letters to be. I wanted mine white, so I painted just the center of the board with the white. Let your paint dry thoroughly! This is a huge step!!!! Trust me! I am saving you lots of blood pressure issues with this advice!

Step 2: After you paint has dried thoroughly (usually about an hour if its warm outside), take your masking tape/painter's tape and create a straight line on your board to keep your letters from drifting and making your sign look like you were "under the sauce" (if you know what I mean) when you made it.

Step 3: Lay your letters that you have already cut out (which should be step 1 but you get the drift.) This will allow you to evenly distribute your letters and do a rough draft of the spacing of letters.

Step 4: Remove the backing of your contact paper/vinyl and place your letters onto the board. Use the back of a spoon, a pen, a spatula, or if you're really fancy, the tool that you get to press all the sides of the vinyl down. Just make sure that there are no creases in your letters.

Step 5: Paint two coats of the main color you want your board to be. This color green is what was left over from doing the Dr. Seuss room and my stools. Lol I have a lot left over still!

Step 6: After you have let the two coats of the main color dry, place your accent design on top of the board. This is more of a "do as I say, not as I do" step. I didn't let my paint dry and I didn't make sure the creases were out of my accent design. BIG MISTAKE!! I had to go over and hand paint it after I was done, so just trust me. Get all your creases out and again do two coats of your accent color. Allow your board to sit over night, if you can, to let all the coats cure and become hardened. I did not do this either, because I'm INCREDIBLY impatient and I am very upset that I didn't let it sit. When I pulled all the contact paper off the paint was gummy and came up with the letters! So I had to hand paint each letter, which was a total pain! So please, be patient and wait.

After you pull all your contact paper off, it looks like this!

This was the best picture I could get of it. Its a good 4' wide and you can't get the full affect close up. So there you have it! The possibilities are endless! What is your favorite sign that you've seen? My sister made one that said, "You Don't Scare Me, I Have Kids" Cracked me up.