How to make a Plain Wood Board Look Rustic

How to make a Plain Wood Board Look Rustic

I’m a sucker for Rustic Wood Signs. They’re easy to make and really, you can’t do it wrong. Even if you think you’re doing it wrong, nobody will know you did it wrong. It’s rustic and chippy and perfect! This is not a pallet wood sign, it’s just a plain common wood board so here’s my technique on how to make a plain wood board look rustic.

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How to make a Plain Wood Board Look Rustic

To make a Rustic Wood Sign, I first stain the board with a dark stain. I used English Walnut Stain for this board but I also love MinWax Jacoean too.

After the stain was dry, I applied a coat of Vaseline around the areas I wanted the stain to show through. Just apply the Vaseline with your fingers, smear it on the board not too thick but all around the areas you want the stain to show through. Remember, you can’t do this wrong!

Then, spray paint the whole board with white spray paint . It will probably take a few coats of paint to cover the board if you are using a dark base stain. I like to use spray paint because paint and a brush tend to smear the Vaseline all over the board. It gets in your paint brush, smears all over the board and sorta makes a mess in my opinion.

After the spray paint is dry, wipe off the Vaseline’d areas with paper towel. The paint should chip off the board leaving the stained wood showing underneath. Now, use an electric sander to distress any other areas around the board you want to look old until you achieve that rustic, chippy look we all love!

There are lots of techniques on How to Make a Rustic Wood Signs but this is how I do it so, I hope it inspires you to give it a try too. Remember, you can’t do it wrong.. just do it! Click on the images below to see my Rustic Wood signs made with this technique.

Click on images to view more Rustic Signs and other creative Project Tutorials

Original article and pictures take www.ribbonsandglue.com site