Creating a faux stain sign couldn’t be any easier, and today I’m showing you just how easy it is! Let’s back up first – why would you want or need to faux stain a wood sign? Well, if you live in a state that has winters you know you’re limited to only a few months you can go outside to stain. And staining stinks up the house for days! So I wanted to come up with a way to stain signs without all the hassle.
If you’re a visual learner, I’ve got a Youtube video for you! 👇
*Disclaimer: affiliate links may be used below. By clicking on a link I will make a small commission if you choose to purchase, however your purchase price stays the same.
Step 1: Buy Blank Wood Signs
There are people out there who can make their own wood signs, but I am not one of those people. So I went scouring Amazon and I am so happy I did! I found these sets of blank wood signs that are PERFECT for crafting with! They are lightweight and easy to work with.
[links to signs]
Step 2: Mix Water and Acrylic Paint
You won’t believe how easy it is to make faux stain. All you need to do is mix a little bit of acrylic paint and water together! It’s that simple. I don’t have exact measurements because I was eye-balling it but I would guess it’s close to a 50/50 mix.
For my stain I used a couple different brown paints I had on hand. Then I added a little bit of black to darken it up a bit. Make sure to really mix everything together so you don’t have a glob of one color come out more when you’re painting (ask me how I know LOL).
Step 3: Paint Your Wood Signs
Now it’s time to paint your signs! I’m using foam brushes which worked out really well.
Paint the Edges with Faux Stain
If you are planning on painting the inside white, you’ll want to make sure you aren’t putting too much liquid onto the brush or else it might spill over. It took me a couple signs before I got the hang of house much paint to use.
Once you have paint on your brush, gently go around the edges. It worked best when I did it all in one swoop, but if you do go back and do multiple strokes just make sure to even out the paint so it doesn’t dry with a line.
It didn’t take long to dry (maybe 5-10 minutes), but once it did I realized I needed to do a second coat.
Paint the Inside with Paint
Once the outside edges are all dried, now it’s time to paint the inside white (or whatever color your choose). I went in with a second foam brush and lathered that on. Again you want to make sure everything is even, so if you have extra paint transfer that back to the bottle or onto another sign. I noticed these signs do absorb the paint quickly so you want to move fast. To get the corners you can go in with a regular paintbrush later if needed.
Step 4: Add your Vinyl
Now it’s time to finish up your sign! I cut out a cute dog mom SVG with my Cricut.
If you have a Cricut Access, you can get this SVG free with your membership by searching #M49A18FDF in Cricut Design Space or “Home is Where the Dog Is” on my Cricut Profile.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to create your own faux stain signs! Will you be trying out this hack?!