We’ve all seen them, those gorgeous pallet style signs. The ones that are the spotlight of our rustic farmhouse dreams! Did you know there IS an easy way to make them? One that won’t break your back AND one that doesn’t break the bank. If you’ve been in any craft store in the last year you know what I’m talking about. Yes, prebuilt pallet signs are super convenient but they are expensive for what they are. Most are very thin and will break easily.
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Don’t get me wrong I LOVE drooling up and down the aisles of Michael’s of all the different crafts I can create but I also know that I can make a pallet style sign for a fraction of the price that it would cost to buy one from there. Granted I would have to do the work BUT it is actually SUPER easy to make one of those pallet style signs at home. If you have the tools you can make your own pallet wood blanks too.
After you read this tutorial check out these 6 MUST HAVES FOR STENCILNG WOOD SIGNS
Here’s one that I made using old fence wood. While I LOVE the look of this one this rustic looking wood can be really hard to come by so I don’t get to make these beautiful ooking signs often.
Here’s another version of a pallet style sign. For this one I used new wood and stained it in weathered gray. Then I distressed the edges and corners to give it a little character.
HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN PALLET STYLE WOODEN SIGNS
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
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wood
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brad nails
CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO ATTACH A SAWTOOTH HANGER TO YOUR WOODEN SIGNS & DECOR
ONE- Figure out what type of wood you are going to use. I recommend you don’t use anything thicker than 1”. Anything thicker will be very heavy. For this tutorial I am using a 1×4.
TWO- Decide how big you would like your sign to be, width and length. Measure out your pieces and mark them.
THREE- Use your miter saw to cut the pieces to the width you would like. Don’t worry if they are a little off you can fix that once you have your pallet sign built.
FOUR- After you have your pieces cut lay them out fronts facing down. Wood will often have one side that’s “prettier” than the other so choose which side you want to put your design on and place that facing down on your workspace.
FIVE- Cut down two pieces of skinnier wood that are shorter than the length of your pallet sign, these will be your support pieces to place on the backside of your sign so it stays together. If I’m making a smaller sign I will usually use yard stakes for this but you can use a 1×2 if making a large sign. I just eyeball how long I want it to be and cut two to that length.
SIX- Put a little bit of wood glue on your support pieces then place them on the back side of your pallet, they will go in the opposite direction that your pallet boards are running. Use your nail gun to nail them in place. You can also use a hammer and nails it will just take a little bit longer.
SEVEN- If your pieces are uneven and you want them to be perfectly square you can do that with your miter saw. My ends are ALWAYS a little uneven. So I take them to my miter saw, line the shortest one up with my laser on my saw and cut off the extra on both ends.
EIGHT- Sand your new sign. I recommend an orbit sander and 120 grit sandpaper.
I hope you find this tutorial helpful. As with all of my DIY crafts if you have any questions please feel free to ask away.
If you want to hang your new beautiful handmade sign in your home read this easy and quick tutorial on how to attach a sawtooth hanger to wood signs.
Happy Crafting!
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