How to Make a Vintage Plaque

Decoupage vintage images to wood signs.

Genuine vintage plaques and signs are difficult to find and costly to purchase. You can make your own plaque that looks vintage and aged for a fraction of the cost. Use a decoupage technique to attach vintage imagery to a wood sign and create a faux antiqued finish. Make several vintage plaques with similar themes and hang them together for a collage wall hanging. You can use a variety of images from different eras of the past such as old advertising, people, packaging or artwork.

Things You'll Need

• Unfinished wood plaque
• Paintbrushes
• Acrylic paint
• Vintage image
• Decoupage medium
• Crackle medium
• Varnish medium

Instructions

1. Paint a layer of acrylic paint over the entire surface, including the sides, of an unfinished wood plaque. Use neutral colors such as taupe, brown or black, or you can choose any color as your base color to match the colors in your vintage images. Allow drying for about one hour.

2. Cut the image you have chosen to fit the plaque size.

3. Brush a thin, even layer of the decoupage medium over the plaque surface. Place the image onto the medium, bending the paper so the center touches the wood first. Smooth the paper over the surface, starting from the center, to avoid air bubbles. Allow drying for about one hour.

4. Brush another thin layer of decoupage medium over the surface of the plaque, and allow drying for two hours.

5. Paint an even layer of acrylic crackle medium over the entire front and sides of the plaque. Crackle medium will create light cracks in the surface of the paint and the image. Allow drying for at least two hours. The crackle finish will give an antique look to the plaque.

6. Apply an even layer of clear satin varnish to the surface. Allow drying for at least 24 hours. The final crackle effect should appear within 24 hours.

Tips & Warnings

• You can purchase unfinished wood plaques in a variety of sizes and shapes at local craft stores.

• You can download vintage images from the Internet, or purchase a book with a CD-ROM of vintage imagery. When printing the image from your computer, print it in the size to match your plaque and avoid using thick printer paper.

• Sand the surface lightly using fine sandpaper, if desired, to create more distressing to the surface.