• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Craft & DIY
    • DIY Art Projects
    • DIY Home Decor
    • Free Printables
    • Kids Crafts
    • Paper Crafts
    • Silhouette Crafts
    • Vinyl Crafts
      • Vinyl 101
    • Friday Craft Club!
  • Celebration
    • Party
    • Gift Ideas
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
  • Crochet
    • Crochet Patterns
      • Crochet Accessories
      • Crochet for the Home
      • Crochet for Kids
    • Crochet Stitches
  • Silhouette
    • Silhouette Studio
    • Silhouette Mint
    • Silhouette Curio
    • Silhouette Alta 3D Printer
    • Silhouette Deals
  • SVG Cut Files
  • SHOP
  • Nav Widget Area

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

Persia Lou

Creative. Crafty. Fun.


DIY Hand Lettered Plywood Sign

*This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Thanks for supporting Persia Lou!

Pantone’s 2015 color of the year, Marsala, has been met with some mixed reviews, and I will admit that when I first saw the color, I wasn’t super enthusiastic. But when Valspar and Porch.com (a great site for finding home professionals and DIY inspiration) challenged me to make something using the color of the year, I was definitely excited to give it a try.

I hit pinterest for some marsala inspiration, and the more I looked the more I was willing to give it a shot. I decided that Marsala looks particularly good with some texture or sheen – like on a velvet throw pillow or silk drapes (totally luxe). And I liked the way it paired with the more muted pastel-y colors that have been growing in popularity. I wanted to come up with a color scheme that would bring out the best of Marsala, and I decided to pair it with a pale blush pink and copper:

Oh dear – I love that. Am I selling you on Marsala at all?

Back to the challenge – Valspar sent me that lovely paint and Porch sent me a stencil to incorporate into the project, and I put them all together to make a big piece of hand-lettered plywood wall art.

Here’s what you need to make your own:

  • Plywood
  • Paint
  • Round Brush for lettering
  • Sponge Brush for stenciling
  • Stencil (this one is similar)
  • Masking tape
  • Metal Leaf Adhesive
  • Copper Leaf

I picked up a piece of plywood from Lowes and had them cut it down to 3’x2′ for me (I’m not big on the power tools, so I love the free cuts!), and started by sketching out my design on a piece of paper.

I wanted to do something romantic for this project since it was a kind of Valentine’s Day challenge, so I chose a phrase from our wedding song, “Forever” by Ben Harper.

I cut out a paper heart and traced it on the plywood, and then sketched out the phrase around it on the plywood using a pencil. I wasn’t too worried about getting it all perfect, but if you feel less confident in your ability to sketch it out, you could try tracing a projected image or using a technique similar to what I used here.
Next I painted in my heart with the pale blush color. When that had dried, I painted the text.
Just a couple of tricks to help you paint your brush script:
  1. Remember, in general, upstrokes should be thin and downstrokes should be thick.
  2. You can achieve thick and thin with a brush by holding the brush at a 90 degree angle to the canvas (or plywood in this case). When you use very little pressure (on the upstroke) it gives you a fine line, and when you use a lot of pressure it pushes the bristles apart giving you a thicker stroke.
  3. Don’t overwork it! I think brush script looks best when it is fresh and more natural. It can be hard, but resist the urge to go back and touch everything up. (I don’t always follow my own advice – the “G” and “F” got a bit overworked.)
When my lettering was all dry, I added copper leaf to the heart using my stencil. First, I started off by taping around the heart to keep the wood around the heart free from adhesive.
Then I taped my stencil down over the top half of the heart. I gently applied the metal leaf adhesive over the stencil using a sponge brush. When I finished the top half of the heart, I moved the stencil down to the bottom half. Then I used my round brush to paint a border around the outside of the heart.
After sitting for about 30 minutes, the metal leaf adhesive was nice and tacky. I covered the heart with sheets of copper leaf, and brushed all the excess away with a clean brush for the big reveal! (Totally my favorite part of any leafing project!)
And my wall art was all done! You can attach hardware to the back for hanging, or I actually used some heavy duty command strips to hang mine.

What do you think? Do you see potential in Marsala? What colors would you pair it with? Tell me all about it in the comments!
Be sure to check out all the other projects in Porch and Valspar’s 10 Days of Valentines!
Restoration Redoux || East Coast Creative || Simple {Darr}ling || Brepurposed
DIY Playbook || Honeybear Lane || That’s My Letter || Live Laugh Rowe || Beneath My Heart

February 5, 2015 1:30 pm Alexis Filed Under: Home Decor

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. The Girl who Loved to Write says

    February 5, 2015 at 3:11 pm

    So pretty!!

  2. Amy W says

    February 5, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    So cute! And I love that you used copper foil, perfect color complements to the marsala!

  3. Taylor says

    February 5, 2015 at 6:02 pm

    I love how you used the stencil! So happy that you&#39;re a part of #10daysofValentines! <br />-Taylor &amp; the Porch team

  4. Breanna Bertolini says

    February 5, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    I love it Alexis!! I never would have thought to foil the stencil but it&#39;s absolutely fabulous 🙂

  5. Brandi says

    February 5, 2015 at 10:28 pm

    Love you sign and the way everything is styled. Looks so good!

  6. Erica Sooter says

    February 6, 2015 at 5:05 am

    Oh my goodness. I&#39;m. In. Love. Your hand-lettering is perfection and I love the foil! So beautiful 🙂

  7. Vanessa • Little Gold Pixel says

    February 10, 2015 at 1:37 am

    Very pretty. But re marsala, I can&#39;t help but think it&#39;s so 1993. I wore a dress that exact color to my freshman homecoming dance! Haha, now I&#39;m just showing my age.

    • Alexis Middleton says

      February 10, 2015 at 5:33 am

      I totally had a homecoming dress the same color too!

  8. Priya Anand says

    February 25, 2015 at 1:03 pm

    Cool Stuff. Interesting to read. <br /><a href="http://www.ljcbuildersandpromoters.com/&quot; rel="nofollow">Builders and Promoters in Chennai</a><br /><br />

  9. Lexi says

    February 26, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    Where did you purchase your side table? Love your style!

  10. Lexi says

    February 26, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    Where did you purchase your side table? Love your style!

    • Alexis Middleton says

      February 26, 2015 at 4:56 pm

      Thank you! That table was a Target find. I really love it! Check it out here: http://goto.target.com/c/137131/81938/2092?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fp%2Fthreshold-caged-accent-table%2F-%2FA-15842664%23prodSlot%3D_1_5

Primary Sidebar


Looking for Something?

FAVORITE POSTS

simple crochet star Christmas ornaments - free pattern
Make your own emoji lapel pins from shrink plastic. So fun to make, wear, and gift! Free printable cards for gifting.

Footer

Content Sharing Policy

First off, thank you so much for being here! I would be so honored if you would like to share one of my projects, but please only use one or two photos and be sure to link back to the original post. Thank you!

If you see anything here that has been improperly credited, please let me know and I will fix it right away. You can email me at [email protected]

  • Home
  • About Me!
  • Disclosures and Privacy Policy

© Copyright 2016-2019 persialou.com · Theme by: PDCD