My kitchen is full of bright colors, especially from all of my Fiestaware dishes. I have them in all sorts of different colors. I had plain, white dishes for over a decade and was tired of all the white and beige, so I went on a campaign to brighten my kitchen. Once I had all the dishes and accessories set, including a hot pink stand mixer and a purple toaster, I decided I needed some bright, fun decor items to compliment everything. I found my first inspiration in a cute “eat” sign I found at World Market. It reminded me of that saying “Eat, Drink, & Be Merry.” Okay, I had the “eat” part, but let me tell you, good luck finding a “drink” sign in stores–I sure couldn’t. When I looked online, I found some cute ones like this one from Kohl’s, but holy moly, I wasn’t about to pay $90! So I decided to make a DIY Wood Drink Sign myself.
I found the wood plaque ($3) and cute, wood letters ($1.50 ea) at Hobby Lobby. I found the chalk paint and wax at my favorite craft store, Target, In their Hand Made Modern craft section. I had the rest of the supplies on hand. I always have purple paint, lol. It’s my absolute favorite color. In fact, everyone in my house knows I have dibs on all the purple Fiesta dishes. Of course, this sign had to be purple, too.
Just a heads up, this post contains affiliate links with (non-edible) cookies, meaning at no extra cost to you, we may get a small percentage of any finalized sales, which in turn helps this site run and helps us score more craft supplies.
DIY Wood Drink Sign
Materials
- Wood Plaque
- Small Wood Letters to Spell D R I N K
- White Chalk Paint
- Acrylic Paint or Chalk Paint in Color of Your Choice
- Chalk Paint Clear Wax
- Paint Brushes
- Paper Towel or Rag
- Sandpaper
- Tacky Glue
- Command Picture Hanging Strips
Instructions
Step 1: Paint two coats of white chalk paint on the wood plaque. It’s up to you if you paint the back, I prefer to paint the backs of my projects. Let the paint dry completely.
Step 2: Sand parts of the painted plaque, especially the edges and corners so that the wood shows through some, giving it a worn look. Secret (shhh): I whipped out my handheld Mouse Sander because I got tired of hand sanding it, lol.
Step 3: Wipe it down with a damp paper towel to remove any paint dust. Use a rag or paper towel to apply the wax to the entire front of the plaque. Wipe off any excess wax. Let it dry completely.
Step 4: During times when the plaque is drying, paint the fronts and sides of the wood letters with your chosen paint color. I painted one coat. Do not paint the backs.
Step 5: Sand the letters slightly to remove some of the paint and expose the wood.
Step 6: If you used chalk paint for your letter color, the wax will look great. I didn’t but tried using the wax on the letters anyway. It didn’t make the difference like it did with the white chalk paint. Lesson learned. Don’t wax non-chalk paint.
Step 7: Lay the letters out on the plaque the way you want them arranged. Glue them to the board. Try not to use too much glue because it will not absorb and will squeeze out from under the sides. If When glue does ooze out, use a toothpick to scrape away the extra glue. This is also why I recommend using clear Tacky Glue.
Step 8: Once the glue is completely dry, stick two Command Picture Hanging Strips, the Velcro ones, to the back of the plaque and hang. You could also use one of those metal picture hanger thingies if you feel like it.
That’s it! This DIY Wood Drink Sign project was actually pretty simple. It was my first time using wax with the chalk paint and it was a lot of fun. The plaque was so smooth afterward and had a nice sheen to it. One thing I would have done differently would be to stain the wood plaque a darker color before painting it white. I’m still happy with the finished product, but I can see that it would have looked even better with darker wood peeking out. Another lesson learned with using chalk paint on projects.
Be sure to check out our other DIY Decor projects and Follow our DIY Project Inspiration board on Pinterest for even more ideas!
You might also like this Personalized Cricut Explore Sign from our friend, Pam, at P.S. I Love You Crafts or this Driftwood Sign from, Julie, at Love My Simple Home. It’s so great to have crafty friends!
I love this idea! I will definitely be trying it soon! Thanks!
Thank you, Sara, I now want to make a bunch of signs saying exactly what I want, lol.