Create a Burlap Printable Sign in PicMonkey

A burlap sign that you create in PicMonkey and print right onto your home printer!

Hi there friends! Welcome back.

I have been so restless this past week as Hurricane Harvey has barreled through Texas! Worried and anxious for friends and others who have lost so much!

In all the devastation, one truth has remained abundantly clear. We are blessed! Our home was virtually unaffected! We are thankful! Our belongings are secure and dry. We are grateful! We have more than enough food and our lives will return to normal very soon. I can't imagine feeling more grateful, thankful or blessed than I do right now!

Creating a sign with these words is a powerful reminder that will point back to this time in the years to come! It's also a beautiful piece of fall decor that is personal and very affordable!

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You may not realize it, but you can create signs and print them right onto burlap on your home printer! That's how I made this printed burlap pillow a couple of years ago.

I decided to use the same technique with a few tweaks for this sign.

SUPPLIES

inkjet printer (we have a wireless Kodak Hero that we love)
burlap sheet
frame
design that you create for free in PicMonkey
Reynolds freezer paper (not pictured)
scissors

HOW TO MAKE A PRINTED BURLAP SIGN

Just a couple important notes before we jump into this tutorial. You can use regular burlap, like the kind you buy by the yard. It's messy and can be difficult to cut straight...but it works and it's definitely cheaper. For today's project, I purchased a 12" x 12" sheet of burlap from the craft store.

You can't really make large signs with this method, because you are limited to the size of paper that will print in your printer. So keep that in mind.

STEP ONE:

Create your design in PicMonkey. I adore PicMonkey and it's my photo editing site of choice! I have the paid version (it's only $33 per year), and that allows me to use all the Royal features. But you can also use it completely free of charge and still have lots of fabulous options.

Here's the fun thing. You can create a design to your precise specifications! I measured the opening of my frame, which was 10" x 8". So in PicMonkey I hovered over Design and selected Custom Size and then I typed in my dimensions for my project in pixel format, so 1000 x 800 and then clicked Make It.

Next, I used Fonts and their new Doodly Accents to create my design. If you're brand new to PicMonkey, I'd suggest watching their video for a basic tutorial. But it's very easy!

Here's a little tip for getting everything centered within your design. Drag the edges of each separate element just slightly outside of the page. If you make it even on either side, you will know your design is perfectly centered!

Here's an example with the word 'thankful'.

Once I was happy with my design, I saved it to my desktop.

STEP TWO:

Prepare your burlap. Whether you are cutting down a large piece of burlap, or using a pre-cut sheet, this step is the same. The burlap needs to be cut down to 8.5" x 11" (the same size as a sheet of printer paper).

Then you want to cut a piece of Reynolds Freezer Paper to the same dimensions and iron the shiny side to the back of your burlap. Use a hot iron, no steam. The freezer paper will stick and provide your printer something to grip onto to pull the burlap through the printer.

Note: I've tried printing on burlap without the freezer paper, and it doesn't work.

STEP THREE:

Print your design onto the burlap. It may not go through the first time. It took me a few tries before my printer pulled it through. You might try adding a few pieces of printer paper behind the burlap to help. Just be persistent!

STEP FOUR:

Shave your burlap, if necessary. The ink smeared a little when my burlap came through the printer. I left it alone to dry for a few minutes, and then just used one of Mr DIY's razors to shave off the fuzz! (shh, don't tell him!)

That took care of it! Don't worry, I'm setting this razor aside for crafting purposes so Mr DIY doesn't use it by accident...I'm nice like that! 😉

Put your burlap sign into your frame and reattach all the parts.

That's it! An easy, affordable DIY burlap sign to display all fall long! Actually, I think I'll be keeping this one up all year long as it's a great reminder!