![how-to-distress-and-stencil-wooden-signs.png How to distress and stencil wooden signs](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0-sn0LAzldY/Vh3lHzz_YFI/AAAAAAABeBE/yfBn5N-nWYU/how-to-distress-and-stencil-wooden-signs.png?imgmax=800)
I finally got my halloween mantel up today. Originally I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to use as the main focal point.. I knew I wanted it to be be orange and black, but I didn’t have anything of a large enough scale to be the big “wow” factor. So I knew it was time to create a large wooden sign.
You can see it here in the final halloween mantelscape:
![orange-and-black-halloween-mantel-2015.png Orange and black halloween mantel 2015](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--WZFQJmB-30/Vh3lKrkuaAI/AAAAAAABeBU/fbYBgP6UDRY/orange-and-black-halloween-mantel-2015.png?imgmax=800)
I wanted it to look old and distressed, and so I used the wood glue crackle effect I’ve used in other projects:
![distressed-reclaimed-wood-art-halloween.png Distressed reclaimed wood art halloween](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qBNErFb38cs/Vh3lBi2VSlI/AAAAAAABeAk/n_Dgde0clCI/distressed-reclaimed-wood-art-halloween.png?imgmax=800)
![black-and-orange-pumpkins-and-owl-mantel.png Black and orange pumpkins and owl mantel](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lLUt40i59fw/Vh3k79ExgVI/AAAAAAABeAE/AHfkXeEBQf0/black-and-orange-pumpkins-and-owl-mantel.png?imgmax=800)
I also added my new chalkboard pumpkin topiary,
![_black-and-orange-halloween-topiary-mantel.png Black and orange halloween topiary mantel](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dvbc3r44EU8/Vh3k0deR_-I/AAAAAAABd_0/NVVPBJ9arss/_black-and-orange-halloween-topiary-mantel.png?imgmax=800)
and last year’s tufted crepe paper pumpkin.
![topiary-and-crepe-paper-pumpkin.png Topiary and crepe paper pumpkin](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fD2PEmfGBDM/Vh3lXtf0MDI/AAAAAAABeCU/b81QkTZUYIU/topiary-and-crepe-paper-pumpkin.png?imgmax=800)
![owl-and-pumpkin-halloween-orange-and-black-mantel.png Owl and pumpkin halloween orange and black mantel](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PY4MvNacVMg/Vh3lNjGmluI/AAAAAAABeBk/9xREePnsj94/owl-and-pumpkin-halloween-orange-and-black-mantel.png?imgmax=800)
I reused my Halloween banner from last year:
![owls-and-pumpkins-halloween-mantle.png Owls and pumpkins halloween mantle](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WZTj06IjQs8/Vh3lO9Jkv9I/AAAAAAABeBs/v4ANPI46NE0/owls-and-pumpkins-halloween-mantle.png?imgmax=800)
And I reused my dollar store skull platter that I accented with white vinyl:
![orange-flower-and-black-halloween-palte.png Orange flower and black halloween palte](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9QLT6IIXm0s/Vh3lMMefbhI/AAAAAAABeBc/p5vaGqnzk7Y/orange-flower-and-black-halloween-palte.png?imgmax=800)
So how did I make, stencil and distress the sign? Well.. unlike my other reclaimed pallet wood versions, this one actually used stock lumber.
However, it was not expensive.. I ALWAYS snap up high quality cull lumber from the big box stores. Typically it is only a few dollars for board with minor damage (in this case, one of the edges of one of the boards wasn’t actually square. So instead of $20, this 1x12 board was less than $6.
![cull-lumber.png Cull lumber](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2EKbgkKog-U/Vh3k9ED1OpI/AAAAAAABeAM/r27f9bDtiW0/cull-lumber.png?imgmax=800)
I cut it down to 36 inches long and used the two halves side by side (you can see the ‘damage’ that defined this as a cull board in the upper right hand corner of the right piece. ). When I butted the pieces next to each other, you couldn’t even see it.
![one-by-twelve-boards-for-sign.png One by twelve boards for sign](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JGqdwtSF3_E/Vh3lJPOjWaI/AAAAAAABeBM/WVc76V7o0YM/one-by-twelve-boards-for-sign.png?imgmax=800)
![painting-boards-black.png Painting boards black](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Eki_GO6jM9I/Vh3lS6A0tWI/AAAAAAABeB8/rfbOlUiHbC4/painting-boards-black.png?imgmax=800)
Once it was dry I spread on a pretty thick coat of white school glue. (If you are doing large projects, i would recommend buying your glue like THIS since this single sign used an entire regular sized bottle.
![glue-for-crackle-finish.png Glue for crackle finish](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5anPQSO7dLM/Vh3lGFnKQDI/AAAAAAABeA8/ZMGuSUIy218/glue-for-crackle-finish.png?imgmax=800)
You let the glue set up slightly so it is tacky but not totally wet:
![using-school-glue-for-crackle-finish.png Using school glue for crackle finish](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6FRLEYsRm9A/Vh3lcZ3AxhI/AAAAAAABeCs/Xd9Ye8EjZoo/using-school-glue-for-crackle-finish.png?imgmax=800)
And then add your final color (in this case I used a sample of grey paint I had left over)
![paint-over-glue-for-crackle-finish.png Paint over glue for crackle finish](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r-pEFBy6ETA/Vh3lRLAyU5I/AAAAAAABeB0/rltB6cpNlso/paint-over-glue-for-crackle-finish.png?imgmax=800)
At this point, I flipped them over and attached the boards together with some scrap 1x2s.
![attaching-boards-together.png Attaching boards together](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P93sW18MRwE/Vh3k6POca9I/AAAAAAABd_8/flzvewEzyc8/attaching-boards-together.png?imgmax=800)
![tracing-plate-for-circle-sharpe-stencil.png Tracing plate for circle sharpe stencil](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9JAAl5k2Z3w/Vh3lZWnMWcI/AAAAAAABeCc/EjSrXihILDw/tracing-plate-for-circle-sharpe-stencil.png?imgmax=800)
Next I cut a large stencil on my silhouette cameo (the owl and branch were courtesy of marthastewart.com. I traced them manually). Because this project was actually 2 feet wide x 3 feet tall I had to break the stencil into pieces and cut it out on the silhouette in sections. You can see the different patterns of contact paper for all the different sections. I transferred the stencil using clear contact paper. (I ended up using 2 full rolls of contact paper for this. Luckily I get it at the dollar store!)
![transferring-stencil-with-contact-paper.png Transferring stencil with contact paper](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bUIgx-RnF4s/Vh3la-1sbGI/AAAAAAABeCk/1YwuVMxyJmE/transferring-stencil-with-contact-paper.png?imgmax=800)
Here is what the stencil looked like after transferring. The contact paper doesn’t like to stick to the painted surface so i had to do a lot of holding it down while peeling off the transfer film:
![stenciling-sign-with-contact-paper-stencils.png Stenciling sign with contact paper stencils](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-73NRFD1iq-c/Vh3lUV5RTgI/AAAAAAABeCE/BTmkZoF5DRw/stenciling-sign-with-contact-paper-stencils.png?imgmax=800)
Next I used a VERY DRY brush ‘stenciling’ technique (where you tap straight down on the stencil to prevent bleeding under the contact paper) to fill in the tree and owl.
![stencilng-board.png Stencilng board](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ucIP8P9Z8kA/Vh3lV0qZCwI/AAAAAAABeCM/LPGUlxNu2sE/stencilng-board.png?imgmax=800)
Finally, after it dried I went after it with some 200 grit sandpaper on my finishing sander. I specifically DIDN’T use my orbital sander to prevent circular marks from showing. (Check out this post if you don’t know the difference between a finishing and orbital sander)
![distressing-sign.png Distressing sign](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0kkw7eXdn8w/Vh3lEqwZdoI/AAAAAAABeA0/clWkzMq-TZg/distressing-sign.png?imgmax=800)
On the edges I sanded down to the bare wood. I love how the black pops though the grey and then down to the wood.
![distressed-crackle-finish-sign.png Distressed crackle finish sign](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h8lwhnKSwF0/Vh3k-sPEAtI/AAAAAAABeAU/sEaUolKcJ-Q/distressed-crackle-finish-sign.png?imgmax=800)
![distressed-owl-wood-art.png Distressed owl wood art](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q2MSnvt1Afo/Vh3lAAcfWXI/AAAAAAABeAc/UR9A7A_yZCQ/distressed-owl-wood-art.png?imgmax=800)
Total investment in this project is about $9. Not bad!
![distressed-stenciled-wooden-sign-halloween-owl.png Distressed stenciled wooden sign halloween owl](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-01nPh94PoFA/Vh3lDPPlt0I/AAAAAAABeAs/R_8_jqs_Cv4/distressed-stenciled-wooden-sign-halloween-owl.png?imgmax=800)