Farmhouse St. Patrick's Day signs 5x5" tutorial

Oh how I love the style of the farmhouse signs. They are so clean and simple. So light and fresh. They are a delightful addition to any room. You can add a splash of color or style to and decor. You can leave them simple and clean or you can spice them up with a little flare by simply accessorizing them.

I feel like all the St. Patrick’s Day decorations I find are either a very minimal selection, and made of cheapy plastic or paper products that are not durable at all. Hello! I have 6 children here, and lets be honest….they are rough on stuff! I want a decoration that is going to last after each one of them has had their turn handling it. I want something that is cute and classy. I want something that will fit my style of decor. Because kids learn by seeing and touching, and I couldn’t find decorations that fit my style, I decided to create some! This is why I have come up with these durable classy frame designs. Read on to see how I made them and make one of your own!
–Also available in 8×8″ size

Lets get started with the supplies you’re gonna need:

Supplies:

8×8 farmhouse frame ready to be finished (follow this tutorial, just make your cuts to be 3.5″ and 5″)
sponge paint brush
fine tip paint brush (optional)
sand paper, sanding block, or hand sander
colored paint of your choice (I used a few different shades of green)
glitter medium (optional)
Wood stain (Ebony color)
St. Patrick’s day prints (available at end of post)
double sided tape
bradnailer and nails

** if you are looking to see how to make the Mossy shamrock sign pictured in the center of the first photo click HERE!

Step 1: Painting your farmhouse St. Patrick’s day sign

Look over your frame and make sure there are no rough edges. If you find some, sand them down with some sand paper. When you have your frame ready to finish, begin painting it using the paint color of your choice and a sponge brush. Apply 2-3 coats of paint using the 15 minute quick dry painting technique.

see the difference between the 1st and 2nd coat of paint

I used a variety of green paints to paint mine. After painting the frame(s) set aside to dry.

***The frame on the far right is painted white and instead of using Ebony stain, I watered down some of the dark green paint and used that as my stain which gave it the light green look.***

Step 2: Selecting your print

While you are waiting for your frame to dry, select the print you want to put in your frame and print it on heavy duty card stock. I just used my printer at home, because it printed so nicely. However, I was only testing it. I originally planned to have it printed at a printing center. You can do either.

After you print it out, cut out your image to measure just under 8×8″. If you are using one of my prints, they have already been measured and you just need to cut out along the box.

Step 3: glitterizing your prints for your farmhouse St. Patrick’s day sign (optional)

Once you have your prints printed and cut, you are going to glitterize them! This is one of my favorite parts of the whole process. You can find a great tutorial on how to make your own glitter medium HERE.

After you have made your own glitter medium, you are going to use a fine tip paint brush and hand paint the glitter on to the desired areas. Once you have painted all the glitter areas, let the glitter dry for 15 minutes before assembling your frame. In the mean time, you can work on your frames.

Step 5: Distressing your farmhouse St. Patrick’s day sign

Now that you have your print printed and your frame is dry, it’s time to distress it. Using sand paper, a sanding block, or a hand sander, sand the heck out of your frame. The more you sand, the more paint that is removed, and the more raw wood to pick up the color of the stain. So keep that in mind. I always recommend to start small.–You can always sand some more, but if you sand too much in the beginning its’ a lot harder to fix that.

frames sanded and distressed before stain

Step 6: Staining your farmhouse frame

After you have distressed your frame using sand paper, you are going to apply the Ebony stain to it. Using an old towel, dip into the stain and rub it everywhere on your frame. Make sure you get all areas covered. Using another section of your towel, wipe all the excess stain off. The harder you wipe, the more stain you remove. When you have wiped all the excess stain off of your frame, set it aside to let it dry. You want to make sure it is pretty dry before putting it all together.

***When using Ebony stain, it can get a little dark. If this has happened to your frame and you’re not sure it’s your favorite look, you can attempt lightening it. After the stain has dried, you can take your sander to it again which will remove some of the darker stain and lighten the results.***

Step 7: Assembling your farmhouse frame

Now that your frame is dry, your print is printed, cut, and glitterized (if needed), and your backing is ready to go, it’s time put it together. Double check to make sure your backing is not too big for your frame. If it is just trim it down a little so that it fits a little inside on all edges.

Lay your backing out on your work surface and center your print to it. Using double-sided sticky tape (I used my double-sided scrapbook stickies shown in the picture, but regular good old double-sided tape works just fine) put some on each corner of your backing and place the print into place.

Once you have your print held in place with the double-sided sticky tape, center the frame on top to get an idea of how you want it. Now very carefully flip everything face down on your work surface. Make sure the backing is still centered to the frame, nail the backing to the frame using the brad nailer.

I put 2 nails in each side. (total of 8 nails)

After you have the back nailed into place, you are done!

It’s now time to adorn your living space with some classy, durable, custom colors, farmhouse St. Patrick’s day decor. Find the perfect place to display it. The place where everyone will admire it and want one of their own. And don’t worry about the kids handling it, it will hold up. Enjoy it and display it with confidence, because you are amazingly creative! And you just made that!

Get your favorite St. Patrick’s Day print here:

If you’re wondering where the print is for the multi-mini grunge shamrocks: I don’t have the license to allow you to print that one. Sorry 🙁

Happy St. Patrick’s day my friend!
Brandee