Our front porch has been pretty bland and I really liked the taller holiday sign I had out there in December, so decided I needed something in the corner that had height.  I found a cute metal stool at Hobby Lobby and then an unfinished, skinnier wooden sign that seemed like they’d be the perfect combination to create what I wanted.

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Rustic House Number Sign

What you’ll need:

• Wooden sign, unfinished
• Minwax espresso stain
• Cloth
• White acrylic paint
• Sponge brush
• Cricut Maker
• Stencil vinyl
• Weeder tool
• Transfer tape
• Scraper tool
• Mod Podge
• Gray acrylic paint

I opted to stain the trim, paint the background white and do a stencil of our house number on top. Seemed straight forward enough!  I took out the can of espresso stain and a cloth and stained the edge of the sign.  Put some stain on your cloth and wipe it on the wood and then wipe off any excess.   Try not to get any where you’ll be painting white, but it’s not a big deal if you do.

When the stain is dry, paint the bottom of the sign white as the base for your numbers on top.  I did 2 coats, waiting for it to dry in between.

While the paint was drying, create the house number design in Design Space.  Type out the numbers, each on a different line.  After that I felt like mine was still missing something, so I grabbed the logo from our neighborhood and added 2 lines to the left & right of it to put on the bottom.  Much better!

Now it’s time to cut on your stencil vinyl!  Pull out your cutting machine and cut your design to create the stencil.  Weed the design part away (the part you will ultimately paint) using your weeder tool.

Apply some transfer tape to the top of the stencil so you can transfer it to the wood. Make sure it’s on the stencil vinyl well by using the scraper tool.

Now, remove the backing and place the stencil on the wood. Since I used some scrap stencil vinyl and it wasn’t 1 big piece, I had to make sure I lined everything up so the entire design was centered vertically and horizontally.

When that’s on there well, slowly remove the transfer tape, leaving the stencil vinyl on the painted wood.

A trick I learned with using stencil vinyl was to dab a small amount of Mod Podge along the edges of the stencil vinyl.  This will help create a clean paint line when you remove the stencil.

When the Mod Podge is dry, it’s finally time to paint!  I used a gray color to go with the white & espresso stain, plus it’d be neutral enough to match the earth tones of our brick & green door on the front porch.  Use your sponge brush again to dab the paint on the stencil, being sure not to get any not on the stencil.

After 1 coat the gray was still a little light, so I did 2 coats.  The most satisfying part is removing the stencil after the paint is dry!

When the stencil vinyl is peeled off, your sign is done!  Place it on the floor for your furry assistant’s approval, then put it out front porch!

I love my rustic little home sign and it’s been rocking the front porch for a few months (yes, I’m giving away the fact that I made this back in May and am just not getting around to writing about it).  It fits the corner perfectly, so I might have to make different ones for the seasons or certain holidays!