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Easy DIY Rustic USA Wood Sign

What do you do when you need a break? I like to build things! Not necessarily big things, those take too much brain power and concentration. When I need a break, I build simple decor things.

Since I needed a break today after trying to get the kids to do their chores and I needed a little something more for my patriotic summer mantle, I decided to take the day to build this easy DIY Rustic USA Wood Sign and I love it!

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I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

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I knew I needed a plaque or sign on my mantle for summer. I have started working on a patriotic mantle, but so far I have only put up this printable 3D stars & stripes banner and this printable from How to Nest for Less. But I still needed a big WOW piece.

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

I love the look of wood signs, someday I will even have a scroll saw so I can cut out all different letters myself. But for now I went for a super easy option and bought some 9″ wood letters from Michael’s.

And since I have a few of the reclaimed wood boards I snagged from my parents dilapidated fence I knew I could put together a rustic wood sign for my patriotic mantle pretty fast. It was seriously so easy! The hardest part was being patient enough to wait for the paint to dry.

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

If you want to make your own sign, it’s really easy! I only used two tools: miter saw and battery powered nail gun; 6′ of reclaimed 1×4 boards, 1 8′ 1×2 board, and the 3 9″ letters. I used a coupon to get my letters so the whole sign cost me less than $10!

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

I started by deciding how big I needed to cut my reclaimed wood boards. My boards were 1x4s so they were about 3 1/2″ long. I chose to do 3 boards stacked horizontally so they measured just under 10 1/2″ total. Then I chose to do 24″ long on each board.

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

After cutting the reclaimed wood boards, it was time to cut the frame. I had to use new wood to frame out my sign because I didn’t have any small reclaimed boards. But I made the frame out of a $1 1×2 board so I figured it was totally worth it! I cut the frame by cutting two pieces of the 1×2 at 45 degree angles on both ends with the center of the board being 24″ long and two pieces at 45 degree angles on both ends with the center being 10 3/8″ (the measurement of all three of my boards lined up next to each other).

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

I dry fit the frame to make sure I cut everything right, and admired it cause it looked so good already!

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

Then it was time to finish the frame. Since I was using reclaimed wood I didn’t want to finish the frame after it was all put together because the stain could get on my pretty reclaimed wood and that would make me mad. So I hurried and put a coat of stain on all the frame pieces. I used Minwax Jacobean stain for my frame.

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

After I let it dry for a little bit (cause I am impatient and wanted to finish my project now), I started assembling the frame. I added wood glue to the corners and then clamped them tight while I used my nail gun to put three 1 1/4″ nails into the corner to hold it tight.

After assembling 3 corners, I put the pieces of reclaimed wood into the center of the frame before I closed up the 4th corner because it was a tight fit (which is what I wanted).

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

Finally, I used a few more nails with my favorite nail gun to put some nails on either side of the frame into the pieces of reclaimed wood to secure them. I was careful to make sure the back of the wood was flush with the back of the frame. I put 2 nails into each side of each piece of reclaimed wood.

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

Now it was time to un-pretty up my letters. I wanted rustic, chippy paint letters not super clean, bright white letters. So I had to rough them up a bit. I started by hitting the edges a bit with my sander. The finish came off really fast with my electric sander. Then I used some Vaseline before painting like in this tutorial from Sincerely Sara D.

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

Now I had to wait for the paint to dry. I hate waiting! And I didn’t wait long enough before rubbing off the paint over the Vaseline. But after a few tries, I did manage to get the paint to look cute and chippy. Then I just needed to attach the letters to the sign and frame. I used my trusty nail gun again (cause I really do love this thing) and carefully nailed the letters on from the back. I used 1″ nails so they didn’t poke through the front of my pretty letters.

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

And then it was ready to put on my mantle for the 4th of July. The only problem… I am in the middle of a fireplace remodel trying to get ready for new carpet. Oh well, when the fireplace is done this week I will have my beautiful rustic sign ready, and it gave me the break I needed today!

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

If you don’t have access to some reclaimed boards, you can make this sign with regular 1×4 boards too. If you don’t sand the boards, and put your stain on it will still give it a rustic look, just not as rustic as the reclaimed boards.

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

So I had to take my cute new sign outside to get some pictures since my fireplace is under construction, but I think the tree in my front yard works well with the rustic look of the sign. And even though this picture doesn’t really show off my new rustic USA wood sign,  I thought it was so pretty so I’m sharing it! Sometimes I just like pretty things 🙂

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

I love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

So do you decorate for the 4th of July? If not, what kinds of decor do you like for the summer?

 

-Kati with picture of blog author KatiI love patriotic decorations for summer! You can make this easy DIY rustic USA wood sign for your 4th of July decor in just a few hours. Tutorial from Housefulofhandmade.com

Barbara Warner

Friday 14th of June 2019

Love it. My family celebrate everything patriotic. I plan on using pallet wood to create this! Thanks for sharing.

Kati

Tuesday 25th of June 2019

It's going to be gorgeous with pallet wood, please tag me if you share a picture so I can see!

tour

Saturday 20th of April 2019

planning on making these as welcome gift bags for my sister’s wedding. What kind of paint did you use? Are of my paint is water soluble, and I am worried that the paint will eventually run or fade if water gets on it. Did you seal the paint somehow afterwards? Thank you!!!

lisa

Thursday 18th of April 2019

I absolutely love this and am planning on making these as welcome gift bags for my sister’s wedding. What kind of paint did you use? Are of my paint is water soluble, and I am worried that the paint will eventually run or fade if water gets on it. Did you seal the paint somehow afterwards? Thank you!!!

Kati

Tuesday 23rd of April 2019

I just used inexpensive acrylic craft paint on mine. You can get a can of clear spray paint to seal them after they are dry to give it a layer of protection. Since I use mine indoors or on a covered porch, I did not seal it.

Ashley ~ 3 Little Greenwoods

Friday 24th of June 2016

Awesome sign for all those summer holidays and great tutorial! Wishing I had one for our front porch!

Kati Farrer

Sunday 26th of June 2016

Thanks Ashley! It would look so beautiful on a front porch, sadly I don't have a front porch.

Kim~madeinaday

Monday 20th of June 2016

Great sign! Very cool for the upcoming holiday!Thanks for linking up to Merry Monday! Sharing on Twitter! Have a great week! By the way I love that nautical wreath too. Kim

Kati Farrer

Sunday 26th of June 2016

Thanks so much Kim!

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