1) I first started off by purchasing a 1/4 inch MDF board from Home Depot and had them cut it down to 1'x2' (so I almost got 4 out of a 4' long board...great for experimenting or if you happen to mess up)
2) Using some basic Martha Stewart Beetle Black Satin acrylic paint, I painted a base coat to my MDF board (remember this is the color that will show through your crackle layer).
In order to speed up drying I ran my heat gun over the board.
3)After the base coat is dry, I sightly watered down some Elmer's Glue All glue and put it in a container (this is what is used to create the crackle look)
Now through experimentation and trial and error, I discovered that covering large areas with the glue mixture would not work well for creating the crackled effect, because the glue would dry too quickly, so in order to still create a great crackle look, I decided to create a faux wood plank look to my sign. In order to do this, I used some masking tape to create a straight line and then with the glue an paint, I just broke the long sections into what looked like planks.
In order to create the crackle effect, put down a layer of glue (thick or thin layer is completely up to you, you will get a different look depending on the thickness of the glue layer). IMMEDIATELY after laying down the glue layer I squirted a little bit of my top coat paint right over the glue itself, then with a brush, lightly lay the paint over top of the glue, DO NOT over work the paint or work too ruffly or it will not work. Now you could let that layer dry by itself and slowly watch the cracks appear, however I was a bit in a hurry and excited to see the finished look, so I ran my heat gun over the top and voila we have crackle!!! :) (make sure that you don't hold the heat gun to close or you will cause bubbling to your paint)
4) The next step was to print off the lettering that I liked from my computer. It takes a little trial and error to find the right font and the right size for the project, but very easy.
After I had my font printed off, I just measured and laid out the lettering exactly where I wanted it to go an taped it down so that it wouldn't move (just make sure that your tape isn't too sticky or it will peel off your paint when you go to remove it)
Once I had everything where I wanted it, I took some carbon transfer paper and laid it under the font and traced the lettering so that it would transfer to the paint. (press fairly hard or you can even color in the entire letter so that you have even better transfer)
5) After transferring the font to the sign, I then painted over the transfer with black paint (for this part of the project, you must have a great deal of patience!!)
6) The last step in the project after letting all the font dry is to spray the sign with a clear coating so that everything is protected! ( I chose to use a clear matte coating so that there was no chance of getting glare in the engagement photos)
Here is the finish project!! (It definitely takes some time and patience, but the end result is well worth the work!) Hope you like it! :)
