Easy Welcome Sign - No Stencil Needed

8 Materials
$15
2 Hours
Easy

We've all seen them, beautiful message boards and pretty painted signs. Almost every time you click over from Pinterest or Facebook you find they've used a stencil or an expensive fancy machine. Not that I don't want one myself, they seem very cool.


But the reality is not everyone has one, and buying stencils can get very expensive. I've pinned so many projects I wanted to make only to be disappointed because I didn't think I could make it without spending a ton of money on a machine or purchased stencil. That sort of goes against my DIY mentality since I try hard to spend the least amount of money on a project.


I'll let you in on a secret, most of the time you don't really need the fancy equipment or expensive stencil. icon

My front porch was in sad shape and in serious need of some sprucing up. So I decided it needed a welcome sign while I was working on my $100 Front Porch Makeover. I'd been saving this fence board I bought and had stained for another project. Since I hadn't started that yet I decided to use it for my welcome sign. But it needed to be white so I got busy painting it with some leftover chalky paint I had on hand.

I wasn't going to use a stencil but I still needed to decide what font I wanted to use. It had to be big enough and easy to read. Heading to my computer I was able to find the perfect font and size to fit my board. And I needed to leave room at the top for some flowers.

After cutting down the printed letters I taped them together in the right spacing and used transfer paper to transfer my letters from the paper onto the board. Use the rounded tip of a marker cap or similar and press down while tracing without tearing the paper.


I do not have a very steady hand when it comes to painting lines with a small paint brush. I've tried over and over and never like the end result. So if you're like me you'll find using a paint pen works better to get an outline before you fill in with regular paint.

After all the letters were transferred and the paint was drying it was time to get my flowers together. I happened to have flowers in the perfect shades that matched our welcome mat. Snipping some of them off the bunches worked perfectly to insert into the mason jar vase.

Just like when I made a Mason Jar Utensil Caddy I attached a pint-size mason jar to the board. Using some leftover pebbles from another project holds the stems in place and adds an earthy element.

Every time I come home and see this welcome sign is such a treat for me. It turned out better than I envisioned icon I'm not sure why I waited so long to get something on the porch. And the best part is that I was able to use what I had on hand to make it. So this project was basically free.


But even if you had to buy some of the stuff it would still be cheaper than one of the expensive machines that can make the stencil for you.

Suggested materials:
  • Wood Board   (Home Depot)
  • White Chalky Paint   (Homemade)
  • Black Craft Paint & Paint Pen   (Walmart)
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Toni @ Girl, Just DIY!
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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3 of 4 questions
  • Diane R Diane R on Jun 06, 2017

    Love it!! What font did you use?

  • Debbie Kelsey Debbie Kelsey on Jun 10, 2017

    Can you please tell me how you attached the mason jar. BTW......Super cute idea!!!

  • Michele Michele on Jun 10, 2017

    what is transfer paper?

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4 of 27 comments
  • Shari Lemieux Shari Lemieux on Jun 12, 2017

    I love the colours of your Welcome mat and the faux flowers.

  • Hea24109544 Hea24109544 on Jun 13, 2017

    So cute!! Great job. I have a small "garbage" can I have painted and plan on using to store charcoal and such in. I have been trying to figure out how to get lettering on the can. Stencils don't work well because of the corrugated grooves in the can. I, too, am not very good at free handing with a brush. Do you think the transfer paper would work on my can?

    • Toni @ Girl, Just DIY! Toni @ Girl, Just DIY! on Jun 13, 2017
      Yes I could see how it would skew the letters. If you tape and trace like I did you can trace over the tops of the corrugated grooves and then fill in the dips by freehand. That's what I had to do on the board and it worked out great.
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