I have had my Silhouette Cameo for about 3 years now and have made everything from decals for cups, heat transfer t-shirt designs, and even cut fabric with it.  One project that I have had yet to try is using vinyl as a stencil.  I have been needing something on the wall in my kitchen above the refrigerator and I figured a gather wooden sign would be perfect.

So off to Lowe’s I went :).  After measuring the space above my fridge, I decided that the gather wooden sign should be 10-12″H x ~50″W.  After shopping the boards and trim section I found a piece of common board that was 1″ x 12″ x 48″.  Perfect, I didn’t even need to cut anything!  I already had stain, paint, and vinyl at home so the only other thing I picked up was a foam brush to apply the stain and my total was right at $10.

Prep & Stain

I lightly sanded the board then wiped it clean using a dry rag.  Next came the fun part…stain.  I am currently in love with Minwax Dark Walnut stain.  We recently had a table, bench, and barn door cabinet built for our living room and they all have dark walnut stained tops and I am in love with them :).  I applied the stain with a foam brush.  After covering the entire board, I used an old rag to wipe up the excess stain.

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign- Dark Walnut Stain

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign- Dark Walnut Stain

My plan was to have a white sign with the word “gather” being the stained wood color.  But after seeing how pretty the stained board was, I almost considered leaving it and making the words white instead.  I think that would be very pretty in a white kitchen.  Since my cabinets have more of a red tone, the colors clashed.   So I decided to stick with my original plan.

Apply Vinyl Stencil

While the stain drying, I worked on making the vinyl stencil.  I used a very pretty font called Octavia and made the dimensions about 10″ tall by 40″ wide.  Then I used some simple contact paper that I got from Dollar Tree, no sense in wasting good 651!  I cut the vinyl so that it was 13″ wide by 45″ long, I then clicked “load media” so that I wouldn’t need a cutting mat.  I used the normal glossy vinyl settings and set my blade at 2.

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign- Vinyl Stencil

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign- Vinyl Stencil Cutout

Once the cutting was finished, I weeded it and applied the transfer paper.  Next, I measured and figured out exactly where the wording would be centered on the board.  Without moving the placement of the vinyl, I carefully peeled the underneath so that the transfer tape (with the wording) stayed on the board while using a scraper, I then peel the underneath off.

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign- Vinyl Stencil Application

Once the transfer tape with “gather” was stuck nicely in place, I used the scraper to remove any excess bubbles and to make sure the vinyl was stuck well to the wood.  I then carefully peeled off the transfer tape without removing the vinyl.  Now the hard part was complete!  In order to prevent paint from leaking under the vinyl, I painted the edges of the vinyl with Mod Podge.

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign- Vinyl Stencil Sealed with Glue

Paint & Remove Stencil

When the glue was dry, which didn’t take long at all, I painted over the entire sign with flat white ceiling paint (aka cheap chalk paint :P).  I found that the paint did not spread well at all on top of the stain.  This worked out great because I wanted a very brushed/ distressed look.  I did make sure however that there was plenty of paint over the letters so that they would stand out.

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign- Vinyl Stencil Painted Over

When I was done painting, I carefully pulled the vinyl off.  I used my weeder to get the first section up, then peeled it off very slowly and carefully so that I would not mess up the wet white paint.

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign- Vinyl Stencil Removal

Add Hardware & Hang

All that was left was to let the gather wooden sign dry and add hardware to the back for hanging it on the wall.

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign- Adding Hardware

Finished Gather Wooden Sign

Now on to the pretty pictures 🙂

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign

This is the table and bench I was telling you about earlier.  If you live in southern Louisiana, shoot me an email at hello {at} karliebelle {dot} com and I’ll give you all the info on the builder.

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign

Disclaimer: Yes I had a bunch of stuff on the counter that I moved for this photo 😛  sorry…not sorry!

How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign How to Make a Gather Wooden Sign How to Make a Gather Wooden SignHow to Make a Gather Wooden Sign

I have to say making this gather wooden sign was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Now I want to cover my house in other wooden signs!!  Not really but maybe one or two more :).  I’m so excited that I knocked another thing off of my Kitchen Home Project List!  That sign looks great above my now clean and organized refrigerator!

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Step by Step tutorial on how to make a Gather wooden sign for around $10

Have you ever used vinyl as a stencil before?  What has been your favorite Silhouette/ Cricut project so far?  Let me know in the comments below!

The post contains affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link.  All opinions are my own and I only promote products that I use and love.

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4 Comments

    1. Thanks so much Debra! I love my Silhouette! There are so many things that I use it for around the house and for craft projects. I started with the Portrait for only $100. Black Friday is coming up soon and Silhouette America always has some good deals, you should check it out 🙂

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