HOW TO REVERSE STENCIL A WOOD SIGN
Being a mom of four little girls isn’t always easy. It’s definitely not constant tea parties and princess power all day every day like some think. It’s a ball of emotions, an unspoken comparison of one another, living in a world that constantly judges them for not being identical. People think that because you have a sister you should be so much alike. Your looks, your personality, the way you learn. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. But honestly our girls have shed some tears over this and it breaks my heart. I try to remind them daily that they are unique and one of a kind amazing humans. One way I try to promote self positivity with our girls is through our home décor.
I had this quote “ be YOU tiful” on our wall right by our front door for years. It was just a quick decal I made up using removable vinyl and after I put it up I was instantly under impressed by it. But I left it up because I wanted our girls to see that message every day when they walked out the door. To remind them that they are them, there is no one else in the world that could ever take their place. That God put them here to be them. Three years passed and I decided it needed to come down and I was going to make a much prettier version, a happier version, one that they will look at and rays of beauty will flow from it.
Click this link to buy your own handmade beYOUtiful sign on my Etsy shop
Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.
I had everything I needed on hand to make this but I’ve included the links where you can get some of these supplies. Yes, those are affiliate links but not to worry, you will not be charged anything extra if you make a purchase through them. They are just a way for this stay at home momma to help with the daily bills of raising our four little girls :)!
Here’s what you’ll need
-
Prestained board. I used one I already had on hand {this one was an oops from an order}
-
paint, I used the color lilac
-
paint brush
-
stencil
-
paper floral accents ———> see how I made these hand cut paper flowers
First you want to come up with your design. I use Cricut Design Space for this. My computer wasn’t cooperating so I opened the saved file from the app on my phone and blue toothed my machine and phone together so I could cut it wirelessly {technology has come a long way since growing up in the 80’s and 90’s!}.
Fun note, I actually made this design for our third daughter’s talent show outfit. She was singing Scars to Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara which is an amazing song that tells girls to love all their flaws and imperfections, those are apart of their own beautiful.
If you’re thinking about getting a Cricut I recommend the Explore, click this link to read more about CRICUT EXPLORE AIR 2 {the difference between the explore and the air is that the explore does not have bluetooth built in so you have to buy this bluetooth cricut adapter, but the air’s have bluetooth already built in so you don’t have to purchase anything extra for it.} but any cutting machine you have that you’re comfortable using will work.
Follow this link to my YouTube channel for tips on how to stain a wood sign
Apply your stencil to a dry prestained board.
Then paint your board with whatever color you’d like. I wanted a big contrast between the stained wood and the paint color so that the stain would really pop. So I used LILAC colored paint. It’s not too pink/purple but it’s not white, our walls are white so I didn’t want to hang a white sign on the white wall. This color is perfectly shabby chic! See my YouTube video for a full tutorial on how to do this, how to stencil a stained wood sign.
After I stenciled my board and it was totally dry I added these adorable hand cut paper flowers. These little guys are so super easy to make! See my how to make hand cut paper flower tutorial for a step by step guide.
If you’ve been wanting to learn even more pro tips on how to make and paint wood signs be sure to get on my waiting list for my Learn How to Paint Wood Signs, all the tips the pro’s won’t tell you.