Transfering Ink To Wood With Just Water

 When I put together my welcome sign for our entryway, I used the wax paper technique to put the lettering onto the wood. The details can be found here. Then I heard about an even more simple technique for lettering that just requires water and a paint brush.

Print your word in a word processing program and flip it horizontally. The easiest way to do this generally is to put it in a text box, click on Arrange and flip it horizontally. If this isn't an option in your program, just do a search in the help section.

With the ink side down on the wood, use a slightly wet paint brush to damped the back of the sheet of paper. This gets the ink wet through the paper and transfers it to the wood. Don't use too much water or it will just run and ruin the letters.

This technique worked best for me using thick, bold letters. It's a very weathered, aged look, which is absolutely wonderful. Instead of working hard to wear the letters down to look decades-old, this is a simple solution that takes just a few minutes.