DIY Welcome Porch Sign

1 Cedar fence plank $2.00

Brown Paint 

Black paint

white paint ( for the lettering)

Turquoise Paint (optional)

Stencils 

brushes or sponges 

Hot Glue gun

 You will need to start with a wooden fence plank from your local hardware store. If you have extra fencing that you aren't using , you can use those too. We purchased one 6 foot plank and my husband cut it in half making (2) 3 ft boards.

Start with your brown paint , I added a little black so that it would look more natural . 

As your painting the board brown , add streaks of black blending them in with your brush to give the wood a more organic look.

I made 2 different boards one that says "Home sweet Home " and another that reads "Welcome to our Home"

Make sure your base brown paint is dry before starting the next step.

Next Grab your stencils , be sure to line them up evenly throughout the board .  I got these stencils at Walmart for about $4. Make sure the letters are centered vertically as well.

I used white for the letter coloring because I wanted it to stand out . I first tried it with a cream color but I felt the contrast wasn't as strong as I desired . Don't be afraid to MESS UP! I mess up all the time , remember you can let it dry and paint over your mistake again .

Sponges always are best for any stencils . Dab the paint on slowly . When you've covered the empty portion of the stencil with white, Stop. Take a peek before adding more paint . If your going for the rustic look don't add to much paint because your worrying about making it a "solid" white. It looks better when it has a little bit of empty spots.

Because it is a stencil, it will have gaps in the letters , I used a small flat quarter inch square brush to bridge the gaps between the letters. If you like the stencil look you can leave it alone. 

Next I made turquoise paint mixing blue, yellow and green. you could buy it already made but I didn't have any . Note: You can make any color with your primary colors and black and white.

I added "sweet" in cursive . I got this Idea for the "Home sweet Home" design from an etsy shop called "Its a gray Life" she has some beautiful items for sale if you want to check her out .

I wrote what I wanted to paint in cursive , in pencil first to be sure I liked it First. I used a #2 Round acrylic brush for this step, but you can use whatever you feel more comfortable with.

Next I added a bow made from fabric scraps I had from my quilt I was about to start .

I tied a bow flipping the colors to show the pretty sides . I cut the tail to make it even, then Hot glued it to the board. The bow make take several attempts until you like its just right .

Next I used sandpaper to sand the edges down to give it a distressed look. I didn't feel it looked distressed enough so  I used white to paint the edges and brushed it a little on the corners .

And thats It !