July 10, 2020

Spruce up your garden with this rustic, wooden hanging sign. Decorate and personalise this sign with any message you like!

You will need:

• Large rectangular wooden plaque
• Acrylic paint: Arbor green, soft sage, natural buff.
• 3cm wooden letters: ‘HERB GARDEN’ or a message of your choice.
• Rico Nature Stamp Set
• Ink pad: Pearlescent Ivy
• Sandpaper
• PVA glue
• Paintbrush
• Varnish
• Christmas green medium jute string

How To Make:

1. Start by painting the wooden plaque with soft sage acrylic paint. We recommend painting at least 2 thin layers and don’t worry about being perfect – we are going for a rustic look! Leave until dry to touch.

2. Once the plaque is dry, sand away some of the paint layer using a piece of sandpaper or nail file and use a bit of force when sanding. Keep going until you can see parts of the wood showing through and you are happy with the rustic look.

3. Next, mix a small blob of arbor green paint with the natural buff paint to create a lighter shade.

4. Using this mixed colour, paint the wooden plaque again and leave until dry to touch.

5. Again, sand away the newly painted layer until you can see the soft sage colour showing through in areas to create a rustic appearance.

6. Next, paint the letters with the arbor green acrylic paint. Make sure to paint the correct side of your letters and around the edges.

7. Whilst your letters are drying, choose 2 floral stamps from the nature stamp set to stamp around the edges with the pearlescent ivy ink pad. Practise stamping and alternating the designs on paper first.

8. When you are ready to print the floral stamps, start by stamping directly onto the wooden plaque in the bottom left-hand corner.

9. Keep alternating stamps to create your floral border. We’ve decorated ours in the bottom left and top right hand corners but you can decorate yours in any way you like! Remember to re-apply the ink between every impression.

10. Next, lay out your painted letters on the plaque in the position you’d like them. You can pop them in a straight line or turn each letter at different angles. Once you are happy with your layout, add a small blob of PVA glue on the reverse side of each letter and stick to your wooden plaque.

11. Leave your plaque to completely dry, ensuring the letters are secure and the stamps have completely dried.

12.Apply a layer of varnish over the top of whole plaque, including the letters. Let this dry and then repeat for a second time. The varnish will seal the wood, making it weatherproof and also protect your design!

13. Finally, string up your wooden plaque and proudly display in your garden!