I started by creating my “ingredients” list.  Plank of wood 1’x4’. (You can make yours any size you like!), chalk paint and wax, brushes, cloth, roller brush, sander/sand paper, tools to distress wood (chains, screwdrivers, hammer, etc) letters to attach, hooks for hanging and a glue gun to attach your letters.

First place I headed to was my other favorite craft store…HOME DEPOT!!  Oh my goodness y’all! I love me some Home Depot! Those guys see me and turn the other way because they know I’m going to make them cut, sand, search or reach something for me! LOL!  Suck it up buttercup, I’ve got decor to create! But, they got lucky this time because I found a super cheap plank of pine for $9!! It was exactly the size I wanted too! (1’ x 4’).  So, I grabbed my plank and headed on over to Michaels to snatch up some chalk paint and search for the metal letters to attach.

Once at Michaels my search began. The chalk paint was no problem! I chose a yellowish tone called “Tuscan Gold” and a brown antique wax to go over top.  Easy peasy, light and breezy! Onward towards the metallic letters! Oh man, I am gonna spell the heck out of some Fall words!! Pffft!! Not so much! My husband (God Bless him) and I spent a BAGILLION hours pulling out all the letters they had on the shelves and a good amount of time on the scrabble word creator app trying to spell Fall themed words! Goodness Gracious!! It looked like my “easy” craft idea was going to be a bust. But, I’m no craft quitter! So, I got to thinking, lets mix up our media. I took both the metallic letters and some painted wood letters and finally had enough to spell a word!! YESSS!! I had chosen the word HARVEST.  I figured that was better than some of the other words we had the letters for like Hokey, Chokey, Jokey, Sock, Whore 😳, Oyster and Shylock. But, I don’t know your life. Maybe you would like to create a nice “Shylock” sign. In that case, you’re in luck! But for me, I had my heart set on Harvest.  Thankfully, on the other side of the store, they had some red/gold painted wood letter and I screeched “I CAN SPELL HARVEST NOW!”  I’m sure the lady that was beside me thought, “Lady you need to spell MEDS”.  Oh well, not the first time someone thought that! SO HA!  Once I had purchased all my ingredients we headed home and the fun began!

I took my plank outside with some chains, a hammer and some assorted screwdrivers.  Basically, you want to use whatever tools you have to “distress” your plank of wood. Good time to get out those frustrations! I wanted a pretty distressed look so I just whacked the heck out of that plank of wood! Don’t forget to do your edges! This comes into play later when you put on your wax top coat. See all those divits and scratches? Thats what you want. Looking back, I wish I would have added more! Also, I used a little hand held sander to round the edges and remove the splintered pieces on the corners. You don’t want any sharp angles. We want to make this thing look old.

Next step, Paint that Plank!! I loved the Fall-ish yellow of the Tuscan Gold. It also complimented the red in my wooden letters.  Now, be patient and let it dry.  Who am I kidding, I only let it dry for about 30 min.

Once your beautiful plank is painted. DON’T FORGET YOUR EDGES!! It’s time to move on to the wax top coat.  I chose a warm chocolatey brown. I figured this would look like years of dirt and wear.  Guess what?! I was correct! Mmmmm, look at that! All aged planky goodness!

 Finished product! A nice aged looking plank with just a little bit of effort.