DIY Christmas Tree Farm Sign

HERE’S WHAT YOU DO

STEP 1: DOWNLOAD THE FREE SVG FILE

The first thing you’ll need to do is get the free SVG file you’ll use for this project.  I keep all the SVG files I use for the projects I make in my SVG Library.  These SVG files work with Cricut and Silhouette machines, as well as many others.  This library is open to everyone and is free! You can access the library here. Look for the file called Christmas Tree Farm. It will either be under the most recent projects/cut files or under the Christmas category-25 Days of Craftmas 2019 – Day 25.

STEP 2: PREPARE WOOD SIGN

Cut your wood to size and lightly sand it.

Brush off any sawdust and then paint the sign white. You’ll probably need a couple of coats.

STEP 3: PREPARE THE VINYL DESIGN

While the paint is drying, open the design in your software program. Delete the original return address text and add your own. You might need to ungroup the design before you can delete.  Then, resize the design to fit on your sign. My wood is 23.25″ x 11.25″, so I sized my design to about 22.25″ wide. Then, I added a rectangle (the size of my wood) around the design to create a stencil.

Do you need more help with creating a vinyl stencil?  Check out these posts.

How to Make a Vinyl in Cricut Design Space.
How to Make a Vinyl Stencil in Silhouette Studio

When everything is sized correctly, you can cut the stencil with your Cricut or Silhouette.  Once it has finished cutting, weed away the excess vinyl.

Cut a piece of transfer tape a little larger than the design.  Place the vinyl on the transfer tape.

Use an application tool to rub over the design. Then, trim off the excess transfer tape.

Place the vinyl so it’s facing down, and then pull off the vinyl backing. I like to do it this way so the vinyl doesn’t curl.

STEP 3: APPLY VINYL TO THE WOOD SIGN

Once the sign is completely dry, place the vinyl on it. Match up the straight edges of the stencil with the straight edge of the wood.

Once it’s in place, use a scraper and rub over the entire design.

Carefully pull off the transfer tape and rub over the design a few more times with a scraper.

STEP 4: FILL IN THE STENCIL

Paint a light coat of white paint over the stencil.

Why do we do this? To help prevent bleeds.

Sometimes there are small gaps between the stencil and the wood.  Our hope is that the white will fill in these gaps, instead of the colored paint.

Once the white paint is dry to the touch, fill in the stencil with the colored paints.

STEP 5: REMOVE THE VINYL STENCIL

Once the paint is dry to the touch, carefully pull off the stencil.

You can use a weeding tool to pull out the centers of the letters.  If there’s any bleeding, you can touch it up with a small paint brush.

STEP 6: DISTRESS THE SIGN

The sign looks great at this point, you can leave it as or you can distress it.

Start by light sanding the edges of the sign.

Then, sand off some of the colored paint.

Next, dip cheap bristle brush in black paint and wipe most of the paint off.  Then, lightly drag the brush across the sign. We’re going for light streaks across the sign, so just let the bristles barely touch the surface of the wood.

Isn’t it fun? I love that you can put your family name on it. This would make a super cute gift for friends and family.

Did you enjoy this post? Help spread the word!  Share this post on your favorite Pinterest board.  Thanks!