"the weary world rejoices" pallet sign

You might have seen this picture on Instagram last week.

Don't worry, I did not actual operate the saw while taking this picture, I value each one of my fingers and limbs.

But I was trying to work as quickly (and safely!) as possible before the rain hit and I couldn't work on any bigger projects for awhile, i.e. cutting and sanding.

I had had an idea for a sign above the mantel for the holiday season and I really wanted to get it done before the holiday season was over!

I cut six sections of pallet board (these are about 18 inches long) and sanded the front and sides down. It didn't need to be perfect, but I knew the front needed to be fairly smooth so the vinyl stencil would adhere well.

Then I cut some more this strips of scrap wood and ran wood glue down the back. After I stuck the glued strip down to the back side of my pallet sign, I pounded some finishing nails in as well.

After the glue was dry and my sign felt pretty stable, I got to work with my sign.

The font I used is called "Janda Stylish Script" and it's a free download.

A little tip when you're painting a stencil like this, is paint Mod Podge on the letters first, then once that's dry go over it with paint. That extra step really helps prevent paint from leaking under the letters. It took about three coats of white paint to make sure that no wood grain was showing through.