MAKE YOUR OWN HOT MESS STENCILED SIGN
Have you seen the HOT MESS paint method? It’s not a look everyone loves but there are a lot of people out there who are in total love with this colorful way of stenciling.
A couple years ago my cousin got married and I was asked to make her a special personalized gift for her wedding shower. I had never done the hot mess canvas method before so this was totally new to me. But it worked great and I want to share with you how I stenciled her wood sign using that technique.
I made this before I was a serious craft blogger so I don’t have step by step pictures but I will explain how to do the whole hot mess process below.
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—-> New to Cricut? Read my post on the top 10 accessories and supplies you need to get started using your vinyl cutting machine<—-
If you want to save money on ORAMASK STENCIL FILM for you Cricut or other vinyl cutting machine be sure to check out this post on where I buy my stencil film in bulk. It saves me TONS of money on my hand painted wood signs.
DIY HOT MESS SIGN PAINT METHOD
Here’s what you’ll need
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precut and sanded board (I used a 1×12 pine cut to 20”)
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sponge brushes or multiple paint brushes
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sewing pin or xacto knife
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patience 😉
1. PAINT
The first thing you want to do is paint your base (whether that be a canvas or a piece of wood like I’m using) all different colors. You can get as creative as you want with this. My cousin is really into The Wizard of Oz so I used all the colors of the rainbow for her hot mess wood sign.
Usually I like to use reusable brushes but for this I used sponge brushes because I had so many different colors to paint.
I randomly painted different colors of acrylic paint until my wood was completely covered in colorful brush strokes. The lighter colors I had to apply a couple of coats for them to be seen. Then I let it dry.
2. APPLY THE STENCIL
I used my Cricut cutting machine to cut out my stencil. This is a REVERSE STENCIL METHOD so I weeded out the background and left the letters. CLICK HERE to learn more about REVERSE STENCILING on wood signs.
How to apply the stencil: Place your transfer tape sticky side down onto your stencil. Rub out any air bubbles with your vinyl squeegee. Remove the paper backing. Then place your stencil onto your canvas/wood base. Rub again with your vinyl squeegee. Remove your transfer tape.
3. SEAL YOUR STENCIL
After I pushed out any air bubbles I sealed my stencil with matte finish mod podge. This is key to having zero paint bleed. I let that dry.
4. PAINT
After my matte finish mod podge was dry I painted over the entire sign with white chalk paint.
You can use acrylic paint for this but in my opinion chalk paint is better for this particular project because it has great coverage.
I painted one really thing layer, you can still see the stencil and colors through my paint and that is exactly what you want for the first layer. Then I let that dry completely.
Be sure you aren’t applying your chalk paint too thick. If chalk paint is applied in too thick of layers it will crack as it dries. For some projects that will look good but not typically on a painted wood sign like this hot mess method.
After the chalk paint dried I painted a second thin layer on top of that. Then I used an xacto knife to peel up my stencil.
This isn’t a project I would typically hang in my own home but I do love how colorful it is! And how it looks kinda polished but also a hot mess at the same time which is a great description of my life with four daughters.
I hope you enjoyed this sign painting tutorial. If you have any questions please ask them in the comments below.
Want to know all of my sign painting secrets? Get them here —-> SIGN PAINTING E-COURSE <——
