Ever have a vision in your head for a project and it comes out exactly like your vision? It did for this project.
I love how this “It’s a Wonderful Life” sign came out! “It’s a Wonderful Life” is my in-laws favorite Christmas movie. But this is a gift for my brother-in-law and his wife after he survived a serious heart attack and said he feels like George Bailey. No angels necessary for this project – just a couple of hours.
I started the project using Canva (if you haven’t already heard about Canva, take a look at this user-friendly design online tool). Because I can put in customize sizes, I could use the exact measurement of the board and get the spacing right. I knew I wanted the lettering similar to the movie title font. The first one (top in the picture) was too small when I laid it out on the board. I tried a slightly more playful font and used a shadow effect.
The board I used was found by my son and was already weathered. After a quick sand, I applied a base coat of acrylic paint in white. Then a blue on top of that (leftover interior house paint).
While I was waiting for the paint to dry, I printed the lettering on my inkjet printer, trimmed the paper and taped it together. I used a pencil to color along the letters on the back of the paper. Check out instructions on how to transfer letting onto wood using this method.
I gave the board another quick sand with a sanding block just to give a little more character and have more white show through. After wiping it down, I used the same pencil and began tracing the lettering on the board. The graphite from the back transfers to the wood. It’s faint, but you can still see it enough.
Using a black paint pen, I traced the letters following the pencil marks, then filled in the letters with the same pen. After letting that dry, I used gold paint and a fine brush to paint a slight shadow for the letters in “wonderful” using the print out as a guide.
Just a couple of coats of spray sealant and saw hooks on the back and the project is complete. It came out so good, I can’t wait for it to be unwrapped on Christmas Eve.