85 Responses to DIY Painted Canvas Farmhouse Sign

  1. BUT THAT IS NOT THE SCRIPTURE!!! GREAT LOOKING SIGN THO. I don’t understand why the DIY’ers (such as myself) find it hard to correctly quote this verse. I have made this same thing on a much smaller scale WITHOUT a Silhouette helper. If it is going to be quoted it should be done correctly. Thank you and God Bless

    • Hi Michelle, I’m not sure what translation you are looking at but this is from the King James Version, word for word. Of course, it’s not the entire verse, just the last few words. (The whole verse is a bit long to fit on one sign!) But this is most definitely straight out of scripture.

  2. I love love love this and the scripture! Beautiful and I’m so glad you shared! I want this in my front entrance way :)
    I’m super glad I found your site because I’ll be following it regularly now. :)

    God bless you and your family
    Mia

    • Thank you so much Mia!! I’m so happy with how it turned out. I love that my kids will see it every time they go through that door.

  3. Thank you so much for this tutorial. I haven’t tried creating a sign yet…it’s definitely on my To-Do-List which keeps getting longer and longer lol!

    Your sign is gorgeous!!! I’ve always loved this Scripture ♥

  4. BLESS YOU for writing up and posting this tutorial Meredith! Haha. I am in love with the Magnolia sign as well, but I just can’t bring myself to spend that much for it! The other day I had myself all talked into buying it, but once I saw that shipping was tons more I backed out again. Lol! Anyway, I decided to diy it for our entryway and today I bought wood to make the frame. But I knew I’d need help from other diyers for the stenciling…so just now I googled it and came across your post! Your sign is BEAUTIFUL!! You did such an amazing job. The font is exactly the same! Love it. What color gray did you use for the letters, and was it just a bottle of craft paint? I LOVE your idea of painting it all that color first – so smart! I can’t wait to get started. Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your tutorial! :)

    • Yay!!! I’m so glad this will be helpful for you, Britt! I just used a bottle of gray craft paint I had on hand, not sure of the exact shade but it was around a charcoal gray. Have fun making your sign!

  5. Do you let the paint dry completely between each layer-starting with the gray, let it dry completely before adding the letters, and so forth.

    • Hi Nicci, yes, you should let it dry at least a little bit between coats – but definitely make sure the gray is dried completely before you put the vinyl letters on top. It took several coats of white to cover the gray and I only let those dry for about 15-20 mins between coats, so not quite as thoroughly since I was just painting the same color on top. And I was impatient so I peeled the letters off only about 20 or 30 minutes after my last coat and it turned out fine.

  6. Two questions, what is transfer paper, and what is that tool you are using to peel up the sticker letters? How did you prevent the white paint peeling when you pulled up the stickers? I guess that’s three questions!

    • Hi Michelle, transfer paper (or transfer tape) is basically a sheet of sticky paper that you use to transfer your vinyl design to a surface. (This is the roll I have from Expressions Vinyl – http://expressionsvinyl.com/transfer-tape-rolls.html). The tool I used to peel up the vinyl letters after I was done is the hook tool from Silhouette – it’s definitely a must-have for any kind of vinyl designs! And I used indoor/non-permanent vinyl so it peeled right up without a problem…vinyl doesn’t stick terribly well to canvas anyway so it wasn’t hard to peel up. Oh, and I made sure the white paint layer was completely dry before I put the vinyl on top of it, too. Hope that answers your questions! :-)

  7. Hi Michelle! I LOVE this. I am trying to get into making my own canvases at home. My concern with using scrapbook stickers is getting it perfectly straight. However, I do not want to invest in an expensive Silouette tool, which I just found out about from the link you added. Is there a way to use vinyl without a fancy machine to print the font onto the paper?Sorry- totally new to this!

    • Hey Lindsay, the only other way to cut vinyl is to do it by hand with an exacto knife, which would be REALLY time consuming. I have heard of folks printing out their lettering onto regular printer paper or card stock and then using an exacto knife to cut out the letters from the paper, which makes a stencil out of the paper. That could work but you may not get really crisp clear paint lines on the canvas. If you were going to go that route, you may end up with a better result on wood instead of canvas. Actually if you print out your quote and then tape the paper to a piece of wood, then use a ball point pen to trace over the letters on the paper, you’ll be left with a slight indentation in the wood which you can go back and paint by hand! I’ve done that a few times…time consuming but it works! Hope that helps!

    • Thanks Angela! The canvas is 10×20. Sorry, I’m not sure what size the font is…I just kept dragging it bigger until it was the size I liked!

  8. Love this! I have a random question for you… what font did you use to type the title where it says “farmhouse”? Have you ever tried a sign like this with calligraphy?

    • Thanks Jennifer! I think that font is called Starlight. I haven’t ever tried calligraphy on a sign like this because I have pretty terrible handwriting, so a vinyl stencil is my saving grace when it comes to lettering, haha! But I’m sure you could make a lovely hand written sign if you had good calligraphy or hand lettering skills. Though I’m not sure how it would work on canvas, maybe a wood sign might work better for that. If you try it, let me know, I’d love to see how it turns out!

  9. Thanks you SO MUCH for this tutorial!!! Especially the tip of painting over the vinyl/sticker with the same under color to “seal” it. I always wondered how to get crisp edges on my letters, and haven’t been able to before!

    • Hi Jen, it’s definitely possible but will be more labor intensive…I think the easiest way would be to buy letter stickers (ones meant for scrapbooking) and use a ruler to line them and space them evenly on your canvas. Then the same PVPP method of painting should work.

  10. Hi, thanks so much for this tutorial! When I cut the vinyl it’s barely 11in long from the file you provide. Did you resize it? What size is the font on your file. It’s looking a little small for my 12x24in canvas. Thanks in advance.

    • Hi Stephanie, yes you’ll need to resize it to fit your canvas. You should be able to select all the text, hold shift, and drag it to be as large as you want. I recommend creating a 12×24″ rectangle in Silhouette Studio and then resizing the text to be to your liking. Hope that helps!

  11. Would you be interested in creating more and selling these canvases? I would love to make one but just really don’t have the time. Great work!

  12. Hi there! I’m wanting to try this with my cricut which I believe is very similar to the silhouette. Did you make your stencil in one piece or did you have to make different cuts? I noticed that the cutting mat is only 12×12 so I wasn’t sure how to get a stencil longer than that.

    • Hey Lauren! You can get a mat that is 12×24. Amazon has some for a decent price. But depending on the width of your canvas you may need to use a separate one for the bottom.

  13. Love love love this!! It’s definitely some inspiration to make something special for our home. I’m currently embarking on home decor myself and this will be a great addition to our home. Thank you!

  14. Absolutely gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing the technique. I have never seen it before. I have a Cricut and can’t wait to try it!

  15. One question…I just tried this with a piece of formica covered board. It may have been the different medium or possibly the paint, but my paint peeled up a bit during the final weeding of the letters. Any suggestions?

    • Hm, yes it sounds like maybe the paint didn’t stick to the board well enough. You could go back and touch it up by hand, or if you want to try again I’d recommend a coat of primer down first. And make sure the first layer of paint is completely dry before applying the vinyl letters (ideally even 24 hours), I’ve been impatient with that step before and had paint peel up.

  16. The first time I followed this tutorial is worked great. The 2nd time my top coat peeled up with the letters. Any advice?

    • I always peel it up when the paint is still wet, and that works. Also, make sure your previous coats are completely dry before applying the next coat. The only time I’ve had real trouble is when I used a metallic paint, which peeled up no matter what I tried…so if it’s still happening, maybe it’s the brand/type of paint?

  17. $175 dollar silhouette thingy? Well thats totally out of the question. I print mine out on printer paper, then shade the back of the paper in with lead pencil, flip it, trace it onto the canvas with the lead pencil. Then either paint it in or use a fine tip Sharpie. Basically free.

  18. Hi. Ive been makimg farmhouse signs on both canvas and wood and find that vinyl and transfer tape are so tricky on canvas.
    I have never tried doing it this way. Usually I weed out the letters and then left up the whole vinyl with transfer tape. Your way may take more painting but its less vinyl to pick up. Hmmm I might try it.
    Beautiful sign and verse.
    What stain did you use for the wood border? I like it!

    • Thanks Heather! I know almost nothing about tools, haha, thankfully my husband handles all that so I couldn’t tell you much about that nail gun. It would likely work well for basic frames like this though, you don’t need anything fancy. Or a predrilled hole and a small finishing nail work well, too!

  19. I am looking to be super lazy!! Do you think I could use spray paint as a top coat? And lightly dust it across? I will be doing white letters and a grey top color. Thanks for this inspiration! I love it!!

  20. Hey Meredith,
    We’re practically neighbors-Ohio here. Just wqnted to say, Don’t compare your worse to someone else’s best. We’ll never make it. Besides, who wants a place right out of a magazine? Yes, you can copy the look which is fine. But my point is your house needs to have your touch, your family’s imprint. Whatever you do your famiy will love it because you did it & you did it for them. Go for it girl!! Also, do you know how to make an SVG file that will do Chinese Paper Cutting, or Sghitaenitsen? I would be very interested in buy that. I would like it to be a farmshouse style. TIA

    • Thanks so much for the encouraging words, Paula! I agree completely. I have never heard of Chinese Paper Cutting, but on a quick Google search it looks beautiful! Sorry, I don’t have any SVGs in that style.

  21. Hi Meredith,
    I love this idea & I’m really excited to try a version of my own! Since you are removing the vinyl did you spray the canvas with the adhesive it suggests in the silhouette school tips? My biggest concern is getting the vinyl to stick but also still come off. Thanks!

    • I did not use any spray adhesive, but it was also pretty challenging to get the vinyl to release from the transfer tape and stick to the canvas. It took a fair amount of patience but it worked for me!

    • I used a stretched canvas from the craft store. Though a canvas board probably would have made it easier to transfer the vinyl stencil!

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stay-at-home mom to three beautiful children, wife to an incredible husband, and daughter of a loving God. I freely admit that I am not always the most creative or original person when it comes to crafting, decorating, organizing, cooking, etc...but I love being inspired by great ideas and putting my own spin on them! Look around, stay a while, and I hope through my *unoriginality* I can provide some inspiration to you, too!
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