DIY Shiplap Sign With Stenciled Quote | Leftover Shiplap Idea!

In honor of Valentine’s Day next week, I’m sharing this fun DIY shiplap sign! I fell in love with this marriage quote when I first heard it and knew I wanted to make it into a sign for our home.

If there is anything that I’ve learned about marriage over the past almost 5 years that Logan and I have been married, it is this…

The perfect marriage is just two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other.

Marriage is hard work and an amazing, thrilling roller coaster. It even gets crazier when you throw kids into the mix. I am so grateful every day to have my best friend and DIY partner by my side. He rolls with the punches of my crazy DIY ideas and renovations, provides a fun environment for our little guy, Cal, day in and day out, and still somehow has time to continuously encourage and support me.

There are so many times when we fail each other, get frustrated with each other, snap at each other, and need to say sorry to each other. There are so many times when we prove that we are imperfect people. 

But the most important part of it is that we come back to one other and refuse to give up.

We typically don’t do much in terms of Valentine’s Day gifts, but I thought it would be fun to make this farmhouse sign for Logan as a Valentine’s Day gift. If you’re looking for a way to add farmhouse style to your home decor, this tutorial will help you learn how to make a shiplap sign!

So if you’re wondering what to do with leftover shiplap from a DIY project, why not try a wooden sign like this?

 It was kind of ironic because I hadn’t told him why I was making a sign or what was going on it. As he was helping me get it all nailed together…I mentioned, “oh, by the way, you’re helping on your own Valentine’s Day gift right now.”

This shiplap sign tutorial contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend anyway! Read my full disclosure here.

Step 1. Arrange shiplap.

We had a lot of little shiplap scrap pieces left over when we did the shiplap wall with plywood and farmhouse reading nook.

I raided the shiplap scrap pile and picked out some pieces that fit together well into the rough shape of the shiplap sign.

If you’re looking to make this shiplap sign, you don’t necessarily need the shiplap pieces to fit together as we have. You could use planked pieces pushed together or you could even buy premade shiplap and cut it down to size for the sign.

Lay your shiplap down on a table and arrange it in a pattern that you like. I wanted to have some breaks in the shiplap for a more rustic look, but alternatively, you could have three planks without the breaks in the horizontal pieces.

Step 2. Cut shiplap.

Once your shiplap is laid out on the table, use a square to mark your cut lines on the shiplap to get your rectangle shape. I made my sign approximately 18” x 16”.

Next, use a circular saw to the shiplap down to size. You should also use a miter saw. Learn more about different types of saws here.

Step 3. Cut furring strips.

Arrange your shiplap pieces into the shiplap sign shape on the table again and grab your furring strips. Measure and cut the furring strips down to size so they make a frame around the shiplap pieces.

Step 4. Stain furring strips.

Use an old rag to stain your furring strips with dark walnut stain. You may need to lightly sand the furring strips first if they are rough.

Allow the stain to dry 12+ hours before moving on. 

Related Reading: Minwax Dark Walnut stain is one of my favorites – learn more about it here!

Step 5. Assemble your farmhouse sign.

This part may take two people. On a flat surface lay the shiplap pieces out in the sign shape and put your furring strips around them like a frame.

While one person is holding the pieces in place, start nailing the furring strips together by starting at one corner with a finish nailer and air compressor.

Then move to the next corner so you have a “U” shape nailed together. Next, you can start nailing directly into the shiplap so everything is nice and secure.

Continue around the shiplap sign making sure the furring strips are nailed into the shiplap pieces all the way around the sign.

Step 6. Cut stencil.

Use your Silhouette Cameo to design and cut your stencil.

I always use contact paper to create my stencils for sign making because it is so inexpensive (I get it at Dollar Tree!).

These are the settings used to make and cut the stencil from contact paper on my Cameo 3 with the Autoblade:

• Small font: Baskerville Old Face, Size 94, 105% Character Spacing, 105% Line Spacing
• Cursive font: Playlist Script, Size 200
• Cut Settings: Blade 4, Speed 4, Force 20, Action: Cut, Tool: Autoblade, Cut Edge

Step 7. Attach stencil to shiplap sign.

I used transfer tape to apply the stencil to the farmhouse sign.

For this sign, I put down the letters on the wood and painted over them.

I wanted the sign to be mostly the fun green-blue color and have the light wood grain popping through. This is kind of a “negative” effect.

Alternatively, you could apply just the stencil part to just paint the letters on.

Once you get your stencil on, it is VERY important to seal the stencil down to prevent bleeding. I talk all about my sign making hack to prevent bleeding here.

Really, it’s pretty simple though. You want to do a thin coat of matte Mod Podge over the stencil to seal down the edges. This helps the paint not bleed under the stencil. I used a foam brush to apply the Mod Podge.

I also used this little sign-making hack on this DIY bottle opener, this fun DIY bathtub tray, this believe Christmas decor, this DIY farm sign, this leather sign, and farmhouse centerpiece!

Step 8. Tape off frame with painter’s tape.

You don’t want to get paint on your pretty frame you just added to this farmhouse sign. Apply some painter’s tape on the inside edges of the furring strip frame.

Step 9. Paint over stencil.

Once the Mod Podge is dry to the touch, you can start painting.

Use a foam brush to apply your paint.

For this shiplap sign, I was using leftover paint from our front door painting project, so it was a high-quality exterior paint. It only required one coat.

Do you love this color? We also used it on this board and batten wall! Check out how it fits into our whole house color scheme here.

I typically use acrylic craft paint for sign making and it works great and is really budget-friendly!

Depending on what kind of paint you’re using for your DIY wood sign you may need more than one coat.

Step 10. Remove stencil.

Let your sign dry until it’s dry to the touch but not too dry like overnight where the paint will harden up and the stencils will be hard to remove. I waited about 30 minutes or so max.

You can start gently pulling off your stencils. Tweezers work well for this if you’re having trouble or you can use these Silhouette tools made just for this!

This shiplap sign was so fun to make. I’m glad I was able to use up some of the shiplap scrap pieces left behind from our shiplap accent wall.

I can’t wait to get the painting done in our master bedroom here at our new fixer upper so I can get this sign hung up!

You can really use this DIY tutorial to make all sorts of different farmhouse sign ideas. If you didn’t want to incorporate shiplap into the sign, you can use plywood surrounded by the same furring strips.

The stencils really make these signs look awesome. The Silhouette Cameo makes it easy to create professional-looking farmhouse sign decor for your home.

Hopefully, this farmhouse sign tutorial inspires you of all the different farmhouse signs ideas you could make for your home to give it that farmhouse character and character. Best of all, you can totally customize your sign with a quote that is meaningful to you!

What quote would you paint on your farmhouse sign??

Let me know in the comments below!!!

How to Make A Shiplap Sign

Yield: 1

Active Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours

Difficulty: Intermediate

Estimated Cost: $30

This DIY shiplap sign with farmhouse style turned out so cute! This simple tutorial breaks down how you can make your own trendy farmhouse sign and stencil on any quote you want.

Print

Materials

• Shiplap
• 1×2 Furring Strips 
• Wood Stain
• 1 1/2” Nails
• Adhesive Shelf Liner / Contact Paper
• Transfer Tape
• Matte Mod Podge 
• Painter’s Tape
• Paint

Tools

• Circular Saw
• Pencil
• Square
• Air Compressor
• Finish Nailer
• Silhouette Cameo
• Foam Paint Brush

Instructions

1. Arrange shiplap.
2. Cut shiplap.
3. Cut furring strips.
4. Stain furring strips.
5. Assemble your farmhouse sign by attaching furring strips on edges to create frame.
6. Cut stencil with Cameo.
7. Attach stencil to shiplap sign.
8. Tape off frame with painter's tape.
9. Paint over stencil.
10. Remove stencil.

Did you make this project?

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