• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cottage at the Crossroads

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Gardening
  • Recipes
  • Canning
  • DIY
  • Holidays
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Gardening
    • Recipes
    • Canning
    • DIY
    • Holidays
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    Home » DIY » Crafts

    DIY Small Scrap Wood Signs

    By: Jane · Updated: 19 Apr, '20 · This post may contain affiliate links · 6 Comments

    Sharing is caring!

    Make your own small scrap wood mini signs

    Small scrap wood signs are super easy to make and would be a great project to complete while you are self-isolating at home. Bonus: Kids love making them!

    Scrap wood signs with strawberries

    To keep myself busy, I recently made these small scrap wood signs with strawberries on them.

    They are scrap wood signs because I literally picked up some scraps of wood from a pile left behind by our contractor who has been working on our front porch.

    Y'all know that I love making something from nothing, right? Well, here's how I made these small scrap wood signs, and once you see how easy it is to make your own, you will be churning out some for yourself.

    Tiered tray with small scrap wood signs

    I plan on using these little mini wooden signs on my new tiered tray. And as you can see, my theme is going to be strawberries!

    Now, you can buy all sorts of small wooden signs on Etsy and other places, but it's super easy and fun to create your own, even if you don't have the least bit of artistic ability.

    supplies needed to DIY Small Scrap wood signs

    • small pieces of scrap wood (if you don't have your own pile of scrap wood, the big box home improvement stores usually have some for free)
    • acrylic craft paint
    • small paint brushes
    • coloring sheets with desired design
    • carbon paper
    • printer and paper
    • scissors
    • sandpaper (optional)
    • pen or pencil
    • Sharpie pen (optional)
    Small pieces of scrap wood

    First, you may need to sand your scrap wood especially if they have some rough cut edges. I used 120 grit sand paper to smooth my edges.

    Paint scrap wood with white acrylic paint

    The next step is to paint the scrap wood with your desired color and let dry. I used white acrylic paint on mine.

    Coloring sheet designs

    Next, you need to choose a design to paint. I chose to use strawberries, but you could use anything! I googled "free strawberry coloring pages" to find mine, printed them, and then cut them out with scissors.

    Coloring books would also be a great resource for designs to paint.

    Carbon paper

    Remember how I said that you could do this project even if you didn't have any artistic ability? Here is your special friend-CARBON PAPER! Yes, they still make it!

    Use carbon paper to trace design

    Simply use a pen or pencil to trace your design onto your scrap wood.

    Use acrylic paint to paint the design

    Use small paint brushes to paint the traced design. Don't worry about coming out of the lines with the paint because you can fix any messes with more of the white paint.

    To paint the strawberries I used the following colors: Wicker White-Folk Art, Classic Green-Folk Art, Lipstick Red-Folk Art, French Vanilla-Folk Art, Black-Craft Essentials, Marigold-Patio Paint

    Transfer text to scrap wood

    To transfer text to a piece of scrap wood, use the same method. I found this farmhouse style text (Amatic Small Caps-size 96) in PicMonkey, a free online photo editing and graphic design site.

    Traced text and strawberries on scrap wood

    I used a small paint brush to paint over the traced letters, but an easier way would be to use a black Sharpie pen.

    After all paint had dried, I used some sandpaper to distress my signs but I didn't like how that was removing too much of the color on the strawberries so I stopped.

    I then decided to edge the signs with a little gray paint to give them a distressed look.

    Scrap wood signs with strawberries

    Ta-da! Look how cute they look, and yes, that's a real strawberry beside the signs. It's strawberry season here in SC.

    These little mini scrap wood signs would look cute sitting on a shelf, in a vignette, or on a tiered tray, which is how I'm going to use them.

    Tiered tray

    I ordered this two tiered tray from Amazon a few weeks ago, and I couldn't wait to put my mini wooden strawberry signs on it!

    Tiered tray with strawberry mini wooden signs

    I'm a little late to tiered tray decorating, and I've got to step up my styling game, for sure!

    While I have time on my hands and wood scraps in my pile, I'm going to be busy making more small scrap wood signs for my tiered tray!!

    Pin it
    Make your own small scrap wood mini signs

    I hope I've given you some inspiration today to help you fill the hours while you are at home. If you're homeschooling, older kids would love to make some signs, too. If you don't have scrap wood, give them a piece of cardboard!

    More DIY

    • Peat pot with pumpkin 1
      Thrifty Peat Pot Pumpkin Holder
    • Lattice panel above faux fireplace 2
      Upcycled Wood Lattice Wall Panel for Fall Decor
    • Ruffled tea towel cherry bowl and sign 2 square
      No Sew Ruffled Tea Towel
    • Bunko girls on steps 2
      Bunco Friends Lunch and Crafting Time

    Sharing is caring!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. elizabeth phillips

      April 20, 2020 at 6:36 pm

      Oh what a fun project!

      Reply
    2. Kris @ Junk Chic Cottage

      April 20, 2020 at 9:48 am

      Super cute Jane. Happy New Week.
      xoxo
      Kris

      Reply
    3. Nancy

      April 20, 2020 at 8:29 am

      What a great idea! Thanks.

      Reply
      • Jane Windham

        April 20, 2020 at 8:59 am

        I think I'll make some patriotic signs soon. The ideas are endless!

        Reply
    4. Jo

      April 20, 2020 at 8:21 am

      It's chilly and pouring rain outside, right now. Your strawberry signs are a cheerful alternative! Fresh strawberries—yummy! Thanks for sharing the idea.

      Reply
      • Jane Windham

        April 20, 2020 at 8:57 am

        Thanks Jo! There's a whole history behind why I love strawberries, but I'll save that for another post.

        Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Jane @ Cottage at the Crossroads

    We're Jane and Leo!

    Thanks for stopping by! We're renovating and preserving our family's 100 year old home place where we garden, complete a few DIY projects, and do some cooking. Please leave us a comment so that we'll know that you were here.

    about →

    Reader Favorites

    • Setting up a gardening journal
      How to Set Up a Garden Journal
    • Wooden garden obelisks
      DIY Wooden Garden Obelisk
    • Sweet cucumber relish featured
      Sweet Cucumber Relish
    • Cucumbers in raised beds
      Growing Cucumbers in Raised Beds

    Gardening How-tos

    • Best way to remove weeds from large area
      Best Ways To Remove Weeds From a Large Area
    • Potting mix vs. Potting soil
      Potting Mix vs. Potting Soil
    • How to dry and store fresh garden herbs
      How To Dry Herbs
    • 1
      Instant Pot Canning Basics

    Growing Vegetables

    • Fall decor 063
      Our Fall Vegetable Garden
    • Garden and yard may 2013 132
      Evolution of a Garden
    • Celebrity tomatoes in cages
      How to Grow Your Own Tomatoes
    • Growing lettuce in containers 030
      Growing Lettuce in Containers

    Footer

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    © 2021 Cottage at the Crossroads · All Rights Reserved

    Contact Us · Privacy

    24 shares