An Unusual Source for a Rustic “Herbs” Sign

Despite spring not having sprung yet in my neck of the woods, my mind has been on it, and so today I’m sharing a rustic “herbs” sign that will make a nice addition to my garden.

I’ve used the pointy end of fence pickets to make signs before, usually bits and pieces that I’ve picked up on the curbside.

The pointy-ended pickets I used for today’s project, however, I bought from a guy selling fencing through Facebook Marketplace. 

Meet David. He is the “unusual source” for the wood I used to make my sign. He advertised all kinds of scrap wood, beams, and fence panels for sale on Facebook, and I had a terrible time limiting myself because I loved it all.

So, I’m not lying when I tell you I filled our van–and for not too much money, either. Dave turned out to be a delightful fellow who has remarkable woodworking skills, as you can see in this photo where he’s standing next to one of his one-of-a-kind pieces.

[In the “it’s a small world” category, David is related (by marriage) to one of our pastors, which we learned only after we met him. He was a heck of a nice guy.]

He buys dilapidated barns and fencing, takes them apart, and uses them to make rustic furniture like the piece you saw above.

In this photo, you see some of the fencing that I bought for about a dollar apiece.

They don’t have a lot of space to stencil on, but “Herbs” fit pretty well.

I used some card stock 2″ letter stencils that I had on hand and connected them with painters tape, so I didn’t have to eye-ball the placement of each letter.

I applied antique white craft paint with a large stencil brush. Get some good stenciling tips here.

I wanted to attach a stake of some sort to the back of the sign, that I could easily push into the ground.

I dug around in my craft room and came up with paint stirrers or yardsticks as possibilities.

I settled on a yardstick, since I preferred its “look.” I drilled some pilot holes into the yardstick before nailing it to the back of my sign, to prevent the wood from splitting.

Nothing to it. I sprayed both the sign and the yardstick with Minwax indoor/outdoor Helmsman Spar Urethane to protect the wood from rotting in the moist soil and rain.

I could not find one green thing in any of my garden areas to use as background for taking photos of my new sign.

Fortunately, I found beautiful, potted herbs at our local Trader Joe’s. They’ve been filling my house with the luscious smell of spring; what mini mood elevators they have turned out to be!

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Bye for now,

I’d love it if you’d pin me!