DIY How to make a RUSTIC UNICORN sign + FREE SVG
How to make plank style sign for your unicorn loving daughter
Unicorns…my third daughter is OBSESSED with these magical creatures and has been for years. At no surprise to us, this year for her birthday she asked for…you guessed it UNICORN ROOM DECOR! Being the crafty mom that I am, I knew I had to make her a rustic unicorn sign to go on her bedroom wall.
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Want to make this exact UNICORN ROOM DECOR wood sign? Grab the SVG you can get it for FREE here in my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY. If you’re new to the blog my resource library is where I share all of my freebies. All of my SVG’s are in one easy-to-find spot just for you. Just click here to get my password. Already have the password –> click here and it will take you to my secure page.
If you enjoy this UNICORN ROOM DECOR DIY craft tutorial be sure to check out these posts:
- HOW TO STENCIL WOOD SIGNS
- DIY Unicorn birthday party centerpiece
- Make your own DIY Glittered Unicorn Jar
- Easily attach hanging hardware to your signs
What you need to make your own painted unicorn room decor pallet wood wall art sign
DIY How to make a RUSTIC UNICORN sign + FREE SVG
Equipment
- stencling sponge
Materials
- Oramask stencil film
- transfer tape
- acrylic paint
- Gorilla brand hot glue sticks
- tulle
- glittery nail polish
- floral wire
- cone form
- premade pallet sign
assorted florals
- faux baby's breath
- spring sprigs
- faux flowers
- faux lambs ear
SVG from my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY
- always believe in magical things SVG
Instructions
- CUT OUT YOUR UNICORN STENCIL
- APPLY YOUR UNICORN STENCIL
- PAINT YOUR STENCIL
- REMOVE YOUR STENCIL
- DISTRESS YOUR UNICORN SIGN
- PAINT ON UNICORN EARS
- MAKE THE UNICORN HORN
- ADD ACCENTS TO THE HORN
- GLUE ON FLORAL UNICORN CROWN
HOW TO MAKE A RUSTIC PALLET STYLE UNICORN SIGN
For this tutorial, I’m starting with a pre-built, stained, and painted pallet-style sign. If you’ve never built a pallet-style sign before do not worry they are actually really easy to make. You can read my post on how to build your own pallet-style sign here. Also, I used a weathered gray stain on this wood unicorn sign along with white paint for the background colors.
1. CUT OUT YOUR UNICORN STENCIL
The first thing I did was cut out my stencil on ORAMASK STENCIL FILM. If you plan to cut out a ton of stencils and want to buy stencil film even cheaper you must read my oramask stencil film post on how I dramatically my out-of-pocket on this material for my small business. I used my Cricut to cut out my stencil and weeded my unicorn-themed stencil with a super sharp xacto knife.
2. APPLY YOUR UNICORN STENCIL
The next step is to apply your always believe in magical things stencil. Using transfer tape apply your unicorn stencil to your wood base. It’s easiest to roll the transfer tape off your stencil film. Use your vinyl squeegee to get your stencil good and adhered to the base of your unicorn sign.
3. PAINT YOUR STENCIL
Thirdly, to prevent tons of paint bleed you can seal your unicorn stencil first with the same color paint that you used for your background color. For instance, I used white paint because my background is white. The wood I used to make my daughter’s rustic unicorn sign was EXTRA RUSTIC. Meaning it had lots of imperfections. The wood was very uneven, rounded on the edges, and had small and large gouges all over.
However, I knew even with sealing my stencil I would almost certainly still have paint bleed. The only way to completely prevent this is if I took extra time to paint the sign very slowly. Something I didn’t want to do since I’m a busy momma to 4 kiddos, I can live with a little paint bleed.
PAINTING TIPS:
- you can use a paintbrush OR a cosmetic sponge, both work great
- if using a cosmetic sponge be sure to dab in an up and down motion
- paint very THIN coats of paint
- wait for the paint to dry completely before painting a new layer
- do not paint more than 3 layers of paint
If you are new to sign painting be sure to read my post on 6 MUST haves for painting wood signs
4. REMOVE YOUR STENCIL
Now, remove the stencil. An xacto knife works great for removing stencils. Just be sure is super sharp. Don’t worry if you don’t have an xacto knife, you can use a sewing pin. You want to gently lift the stencil film up and off your wood base without causing damage
5. DISTRESS YOUR UNICORN SIGN
Next, I used a sanding sponge to lightly sand over my lettering on my unicorn pallet sign once my paint was dry. Just to give it a little more rustic look. I didn’t want my sign to be all gorgeously distressed and the lettering to be crisp.
6. PAINT ON UNICORN EARS
I almost forgot to do this part…insert facepalm!… Using a pencil, I freehanded the ears then painted them in with light pink paint. I added a little detail with a little bit of gray paint while the pink paint was still wet just so they didn’t look so flat. Then, I distressed them with the sponge sander.
7. MAKE THE HORN
I used a foam cone for this and cut it down to the size I needed. Using regular acrylic craft paint seemed to work great for this craft. Let dry. After that, I wrapped the cone in tulle until I was happy with the look.
8. ADD ACCENTS TO THE HORN
Next, add accents to the unicorn horn. I only needed a small piece of wire for this project so I used what I had on hand. I only had silver or green floral wire so I painted a piece of the silver wire with glittery nail polish and let it dry.
Then, I wrapped it around the horn and secured the ends inside of the foam. This really made a big difference in how the unicorn horn looked overall. Without this piece of glittery wire, I don’t think it would have turned out as cute.
9. GLUE ON FLORAL UNICORN CROWN
Lastly, it was time to add a unicorn floral crown. I picked up my floral accents from Walmart. In my case, I bought during the spring so I was able to find a great floral selection at a good price. I used gorilla hot glue in my glue gun to attach them to my wood base. I highly suggest doing a dry run with the floral crown before you actually glue them down. Before gluing, be sure you like the placement of the floral crown pieces. Don’t be afraid to cut down your florals. Sometimes you just need a small piece of baby’s breath instead of a whole piece of it.
Some of the florals I used on this unicorn crown were leftover from these DIY corsages I made from my youngest three daughters for the father-daughter dance. I love that I could also incorporate them into this piece. They were such beautiful florals and my store was completely out of them so I couldn’t get any more for this sign.
Now you’re ready to give this gorgeously rustic unicorn sign to your sweetest unicorn-obsessed little girl to hang in her room. I hope you enjoyed this crafty tutorial. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below.
Happy Crafting!
