Rustic Garden Signs

Garden Art Projects

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Old weathered barnboard painted with quaint country sayings to direct visitors, make a statement or just get a giggle are the very best of whimsical garden art. There is no room to be precious and particular - let your inner child out to play.

Rustic Garden Signs - more DIY Garden Art

Barnboards, weathered to perfection are the ideal place to start.

Using acrylic paints and spray on Varathane makes them sturdy and weather proof; if you want to make them almost completely impervious to weather, hang them under the eaves of a roof.

I use barnboards or lumber salvaged from other carpentry projects to make a garden sign or two, and paint funny sayings, directions or a picture to enhance my garden visitors’ experience.

I love to delight and surprise people with witty puns, on a piece of unique garden art.

Here's some garden sign sayings to give you some ideas of what to paint.

Some of my favorite examples include;

Unruly children will be given hugs, sugar and a free puppy

Now entering the Seedy Part of Town…

Trespassers will be composted (sign stuck in a compost bin beside a pair of pants tucked in to old boots)

Do you, Gardener, take this Garden, to weed from this day forth?

What are your favorites?

Here's What You Need For This Rustic Garden Sign Project

Salvaged lumber or purchased piece of dimension wood from the lumber yard, approximately six inches wide by two or three feet.

You can also use pallet wood, an old ironing board, a piece of plywood about the same size, or whatever other wood you can scrounge. The more beat up and worn, the better.

Sandpaper in various grits from #80 (rough) to #120 or finer for the finishing process.

Two eye hooks to hang it, with two other cuphooks, or some wire, like tie wire or copper electrical wire.

Paintbrushes in various shapes and configurations - don't worry about the best quality, just a series of sizes from small to medium for the various uses.

Acrylic craft paints, in various colors. Use your favorites, or break out of the mold and really fire it up with something completely different.

This list is nowhere near complete, but will get you started. Of course, if you already have the supplies tucked away in your organized craft cupboard, use those instead of buying new.

To make your rustic garden signs, find a piece of salvaged lumber or barnboard.

I prefer thinner pieces such as planed ½ inch or one inch thick by 4-6 inches across. If you know what you want your sign to say, estimate how your lettering will fit the board.

It’s really hard to figure it out as you go, so if you have to, find a piece of paper the same size and sketch the lettering on that.

Semper Solaire sign - this is an old plywood ironing board, embellished with an escutcheon (decorative backing for a door handle) and a pocket watch.

There’s nothing more frustrating (and harder to fix) than scrunching up the final few letters to make them fit.

Prepare your board by sanding off the rough spots, or if you have to, use a power sander to make it smoother.

Start with the heavier grit (#80) and then give it a second sanding with the finer grit (#120 or #240). This will give the paint something to stick to, if your board is very smooth. This is called 'tooth'.

Don’t overdo it or it will lose all its rustic appeal and patina. The goal is to make it easier to paint on, not to eliminate the character and charm.

Painting the Rustic Sign

Using thinned down acrylic craft paint that you can buy at the dollar store or in craft stores, rag on your preferred colour of background.

This can be any colour you like, as you will be adding more on top.

Allow the first coat to dry, and then add a different colour in the same way, by ragging it on, then wiping it off.

These two coats will form the base of your rustic garden sign, so make them compatible with other colors in your garden.

Rustic Barnboard Signs assembled on the tailgate of the truck, ready to be taken to market

Once the second coat is dry, using fine grit sandpaper, take off some of the top coat.

This will reveal the lower coat, plus in some areas (especially around the edges for instance) you will reveal the actual wood.

If you want, you can use a really diluted coat of darker brown, green or black to stain the lowest layers and make them appear more aged.

The distressed look depends on the appearance of weathering.

The good thing is, if you don’t like it, simply start all over again.

If your weathered barnboard has knotholes or cracks in, the paint will fill these and resist being sanded off, making it resemble an ancient farm sign or one found on an old western hotel or bawdy house.

This is the look that I aim for, the more weather beaten and distressed, the better.

Using a small paintbrush, load up a slightly diluted acrylic paint, and using fluid brushstrokes, paint your lettering.

Don’t try and touch up any mistakes until it’s dry, or it will be very obvious.

Once it’s dry, go back over it with a small piece of sandpaper if there are blobs, blank spots, or mistakes, and then re-touch with the same colour.

Once that layer is dry, you can outline with a lighter colour and a smaller brush, or make a shadow effect. Allow that to dry too, and then sand the whole thing, taking some of the lettering off almost completely.

How to Finish the Rustic Garden Sign

Use a tack cloth (clean dry lint free cloth) to get rid of any dust, then you can spray the whole thing with spray on Varathane sealer.

Hang your sign with wire by stapling two small fence staples into the top of the sign, or nail directly to the side of a building, or use a post to insert it into the ground.

For a more finished look, two hooks in the top of the sign, then two cup hooks to hang it on will be the finishing touch. Envision the sign hanging off a shed eaves, or a piece of wood attached to the side of the building. A piece of gnarly driftwood works well for this purpose.

I’ll bet your visitors will enjoy your rustic garden signs almost as much as you do.

Don't miss the Rustic Garden Signs Gallery for more ideas - choose your favorite rustic sign;

See more great ideas on the Rustic Garden Signs Gallery...

See more garden sign ideas here:

Above all, don't be too precious with this process. The mistakes and boo boos make these wooden garden signs even more fun, and the maker all the more real.