Paint a Porch Welcome Sign With Cricut-cut Stencils

Want to paint a Porch Welcome Sign? Here’s the complete DIY tutorial for creating Cricut-cut stencils and painting the board.

My niece posted some porch signs on her status last week, and within minutes she sold them! Great reward for her hard work.

Anyway, that made me finally decide to make a sign for our porch. I have a stash of super rustic barn boards I’ve been hoarding for years. It’s time to use them before rustic goes away completely. One alone wouldn’t be wide enough, so I stacked them, two side by side attached to a taller one in back.

I’ll use a piece of 1″ x 8″ x 4′ board from the lumber store for my next sign. With dark stain, because that’s more in style these days…

Whatever you choose to use for your sign, the Cricut-cut stencils will be the same across the board. (Was that a pun?)

So here’s how to make the stencils:

Paint a Porch Welcome Sign with ™Cricut-cut stencils:

This post is not sponsored by Cricut. I have a machine, and I love using it. Any cutting machine with a design space will do the same thing.

For more details about design space, go to this post or this one to see illustrated instructions.

Supplies:

Cricut* or equivalent cutting machine and cutting mat*
Cardstock or mylar sheets*
Prepared sign board
Black craft paint, stencil brush*, measuring tape or ruler, pencil, painter’s or scotch tape

How to cut the stencils:

Choose “Text” and pick a block style font.
Type the needed letters of “Welcome” in separate layers.
Measure your board’s area that you want to stencil: length and width. If you use a 1″ x 8″ x 4′ board the stenciled area will likely measure 4.5″ x 40″. Subtract an inch for spaces between each letter, 40″ – 6″ = 34″. We’ll make that 35″ for simplicity, then divide by 7 letters and that gives you 5″ tall letters. 5″ tall letters with a 1″ space between each letter equals a length of 41″. Mark the center of the board’s width, then the top of each letter.
Now back to the Cricut. Make your letters 5″ tall. If the W and M are too wide, unlock the left bottom and use the right toggle to narrow it to about 4.5″ to look right on the board. (Don’t forget to lock the layers again.) The rest of the letters won’t be as wide, so they can likely stay the width they become when you make them 5″ tall.
To make your stencil for the O so the center remains attached to the outside, type the O. Then add a square shape, which you unlock to make wide enough to cross the O completely, and .5″ high. Lock the shape and place exactly centered on the O. Select both layers and slice. Remove the shape layers and the pieces of the O that got sliced off. After painting the O you will fill in the spaces freehand.
If you make the letters we did in Step 2, you’ll only have 3 layers. If you want an L besides the E, you’ll have 4 layers.
Toggle the hide eye beside all the layers except the one you’re cutting. Move the letters on the design screen just before you click for the last step to cut, so the letter cuts on the paper at least an inch from the top, and centered for width. This gives you room around the letters to contain the paint on the stencil.
We used cardstock for our stencils, and tossed them. If you want permanent stencils, use this product*.

Paint the stencil letters on the board:

Step 3 above explains how to determine the stenciled area of your board. If you didn’t mark each letter’s position before, do so now. Another option is taping the letters together in a banner instead of separately. This will automatically space the letters correctly on the board and you will only need to mark the top and center of your paint area.
Then tape the stencils to the board, and paint. Squirt a puddle of paint on a Cool Whip lid for daubing your brush.
We used black paint for our letters. I used a slanted flat brush, but you can use a stencil brush if that’s more comfortable for you. (A stencil brush daubs the paint from the top, and there’s less chance of paint getting under the edges of the stencil.)