How to make a GATHER Wooden Sign

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Finished Gather Wooden Sign

Now on to the pretty pictures 🙂

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.

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

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!

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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