Framing Tutorial for Wooden Signs

Have you ever wondered how everyone finishes their signs off with a cute custom frame? I have seen so many signs floating around Facebook and Pinterest that really look complete dressed up in 4 boards around the corners. In this article I'm going to show you how to make an awesome porch sign.

I hadnever used a nail gun before this project so the task of attempting this taskseemed a little daunting to me; but, I wanted to letgo of my fears and learn something new. I hope this helps you all to tryto frame one of your signs as well.

Material List:

1. Nail Gun

2. Nails for Nail Gun

3. Saw

4. Wood Glue

5. 1x2 Common Boards

6. Measuring Tape

7. Pen

8. Sign you want to frame

9. Sander

I understand that everyone may nothave all of the power tools at their disposal. If you don’t have a nail gun,try a stapler. If you don’t have a miter saw, use a hand saw or have thegreat employees of Lowes or Home Depot cut your boards to size.

Where there is a will, there is a way and I am sure you will find it.

To begin, I grabbed 2 signs of varying sizes out of my craft stack. Istarted by measuring the length of the signs.

This particular sign measured 48” from top to bottom. I took apiece of the 1x2 common board and marked 48” to cut. I turned mymiter saw and made this 48” cut twice.

After cutting both pieces of wood I had to measure the width of mysign. On both top pieces there is a overhang. You have to take intoaccount the width of your sign and the width of the trim.

In my case the sign was 12” wide and the trim was 1/2" wide.

I wanted the trim to hang over 1/2” on each side tobe flush with the trim on the side pieces; in orderto do this I added the 12” (width of my sign) to the1/2” on the left side and the 1/2” on the right side andmy cut length was 13”.

At this point you should have both side pieces and both top piecescut. You can leave the wood raw or sand and stain/paint.

I used 2 saw horses to lay my sign on so I could get the trim flushwith the sign. It is a personal preference to have overhang on the frameor to have it look like it’s boxed in.

I prefer the shadow box look so that iswhat this tutorial will teach. (On this BAKERY sign, the sides were cut withthe overhang and the tops were cut flush. You can choose to do it eitherway.)

First I added glue to the piece of trim I would beworking on. Then, I added the trim to the side ofthe sign. I made sure the trim was flush with thebottom of the sign and then I nailed it into place.

My husband helped so I could take pictures ofthe process.

I continued by adding bothsides and then repeating theglue and nailing on the tops. Ifyour cuts are off and there isany overhang, use your sanderto sand until even.

You should have a completesign now!!! Congratulations!

Show off your hard work withpride and share this tutorial with all your crafting friends!

Customization Options

If you want an angled sign instead, you can measure the top andsides exactly (no overhang is needed) and cut all cuts at a 45 degreeangle. This makes another beautiful frame!