Winter coffee bar sign + free SVG

We bought a 120 yr old house over the summer. It’s a much bigger house than we’ve ever lived in AND I have space for an actual coffee bar now!! I’m so excited to decorate it for the winter & Christmas season.

I thought long and hard about how I would decorate my new rustic looking coffee bar and I opted for a winter hot cocoa & coffee theme instead of just decorating it for the Christmas season. That way I can keep my display up longer.

I also made this cute mini wood rolling pin to go on my winter coffee bar and I have a FREE SVG to go with it too.

If you’re just now starting out on your journey into the world of fancy cutting machines (aka a Cricut, Silhouette, or any other brand) be sure to read this post 10 MUST HAVE SUPPLIES & ACCESSORIES TO GET YOU STARTED WITH YOUR CRICUT.

Here’s what I used to make my mini wood winter sign

• 5.5”x5.5” pine board pre stained

• black & white acrylic paint

• matte finish mod podge

• paint brushes & flat paint brushes

• oramask stencil film

• transfer tape

• vinyl squeegee

• sewing pin

• scissors

• drop cloth

• paint tray

• Cricut cutting machine (I use a Cricut Explore)

• green Cricut cutting mat

• Cricut design space

• FREE SVG of baby it’s cold outside

1.CUT & WEED THE STENCIL

The SVG I used for this sign can be found in my FREE resource library click here, or you can purchase the SVG here. I uploaded it into Cricut Design Space and adjusted it to fit perfectly onto my 5.5”x5.5” wood pine base.

I cut my stencil out on ORAMASK 813 STENCIL FILM. I know, my mat is very loved lol! You can definitely tell I get a lot of use out of my craft supplies.

Typically I suggest using an xacto knife to weed stenciled designs but since this design is so small with lots of lettering I am using a sewing pin instead. This isn’t my go to but for small designs it works much better than an xacto knife.

2. PAINT THE BASE

After my stencil was cut and weeded I painted my wood piece. I used matte finish black acrylic paint for this and my rusty but trusty 1” paint brush. This brush is one of my FAVORITE paint brushes! It may look like a hot mess but it paints beautifully!

I wanted this to look a little more rustic without having to take my sander to it. Instead of a painting all the way to the edges of the wood base I left a slight border around it and I made it super uneven to give it an even more farmhouse-y look. Then I let it dry completely.

3. APPLY THE STENCIL

After my base coat was completely dry I applied my stencil. Be sure when you do this step that your paint is TOTALLY dry. If it’s not the stencil film will peel up the base coat and it will be an ugly mess.

I cut my stencil so it would perfectly fit on my wood base that way I wouldn’t have to stress about centering it and making it all even.

I aligned the stencil on the base and used my vinyl squeegee to press out all the air bubbles. PRO TIP: work from the middle out to press out air bubbles.

Then I removed my stencil film. This removes best when you roll it away from your stencil vs trying to peel it up and off of your stencil.

4. SEAL THE STENCIL

Sealing your stencil isn’t 100% necessary but it does help to keep the paint bleed to a minimum. I use MATTE FINISH MOD PODGE for this.

I paint a super thin coat of mod podge onto my exposed areas of my stencil. Making sure I am almost pushing the mod podge into the stencil creases. Then I let it dry completely. Again, use a SUPER THIN COAT of mod podge if you do this step.

5.PAINT THE STENCIL

After my mod podge was dry I painted the exposed areas of my stencil with white acrylic paint.

I let the first coat dry then I painted a second coat.

Be sure when you do this step that you paint SUPER THIN layers. If your paint layers are too thick then your paint will peel up with you peel up your stencil.

6. PEEL UP THE STENCIL

Everyone is different but for me I always peel up my stencil while my paint is still wet. This method has worked for me on the THOUSANDS of signs I have painted so this is the method that I always recommend.

Start from one corner and peel toward the opposite corner.

Then use your sewing pin or an xacto knife to take out all of the little middle pieces. If you accidently get paint on your base paint no worries. When the paint is all dry just take a paint brush and paint over all of the little mistakes.

7. TOUCH UP

When the paint is all dry just take a paint brush and paint over all of the little mistakes.

After my sign was dry I put it up on my coffee bar even though it was almost 11pm lol!! No wonder my pic turned out super blah and yellow with the lighting . That’s ok!

Let me know what you think in the comments below.