I am making some progress on my first vegetable garden. I planned the space, picked the seeds (with a little help from my two tiny helpers), planted, and got dirty…really dirty. I hadn’t planned on making a sign for the garden but this phrase kept repeating in my head as I planted each little seed, “Now grow, damn it!”. It perfectly sums up all of the frustration and impatience I feel about gardening.

A few months ago I bought a table because I liked the base for my farmhouse dining table (more to come on that), and still had the top floating around my garage somewhere just waiting to be used for some project. Voila! Reclaimed wood garden sign. One of the extensions was the perfect size (42″ x 11″).

I planned out the text on my computer, and printed it off. I was out of tape so I used washi tape to hold it all together. You can use whatever phrase you would like, I went with “Grow, Damn It.” because I’m not afraid to add a little edge to my decor. And the flowers help make it a little softer…right?

I have seen a lot of tutorials that use lots of different transfer techniques. I like to use the chalk and pencil transfer because I always have chalk and a pencil laying around. The outlines aren’t super as crisp as they would be with carbon transfer paper, but I have used this method since art school and it hasn’t failed me yet. All you have to do is spread chalk on the backside of the paper, flip it over and outline the letters, drawing, etc. with a sharp pencil. Just be careful to only put pressure on the tip of the pencil, and not to place your hands on the paper or you will end up with blob of chalk and no outline. I used magenta chalk solely for the tutorial. Typically I would use white, but any color would do, as long as it is a different color then the piece you are transferring onto.

In this example you can see by the “R” that I was not paying attention to where my hand was while outlining with the pencil. I’m just happy I caught it in the beginning.

Next, I went in the a white paint marker and outlined the letters, and freehanded the flowers and vines. I let the first coat dry for about an hour, and went in with a second coat. To finish off the sign I sprayed it with clear Flex Seal Spray Paint so that it would be waterproof. I have also used this underneath my sink, and it works great at protecting against any water damage.

After adding some wire to the back I hung it up on the fence, and waited…and waited. And waited some more.

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