When I share tips for selling at craft shows, I always remind small business owners to bring a variety of products in all price ranges. However, if you sell painted wooden signs made with your Silhouette or Cricut, it isn’t always easy to bring products in the under $5 range. It certainly doesn’t make sense to sell glass ornaments if your entire brand is wood signs! Today, I’m sharing how I created some mini wood sign ornaments that would sell for less than $5.
Tutorial: How to Make Wood Sign Christmas Ornaments
- Cut and sand your wood. I used 1 inch by 3 inch common pine and my signs measure 3 inches by 3.5 inches. For a refresher on sanding your wood properly, head to this post.
- Paint your wood blanks. Feel free to use your favorite paint.
- Cut your stencil, weed it, and apply it to your wood blank. I used Oramask stencil film.
- Paint your wood sign.
- Remove your stencil film immediately after painting.
- After the signs are dry, drill holes in the corners and string a piece of twine through the holes and tie it off.
Cost to Make Wood Sign Ornaments
Let’s talk numbers. Here’s a general cost breakdown to make wood sign ornaments:
- Wood. A 1″ x 3″ that is 8 feet long costs $8.72 at my local Home Depot. That means you’d be able to get 20 to 25 mini signs from one board. (I lose about 1/8 of an inch for every cut due to the thickness of my saw blade – yours may vary if it’s thinner or thicker.) If I get 20 mini sign blanks, they’d cost me $0.44 each. Don’t forget to check your wood scrap pile – this is a great way to use odds and ends pieces.
- Paint, twine, transfer tape, and stencil vinyl. Since it literally takes a few drops of paint to complete each one, a small amount of stencil vinyl, a few inches of twine, and one piece of transfer tape that I reused – I’m going to estimate the costs at $0.50 (although I think that’s a bit high).
- Labor. I like to make $20 an hour when making wood signs. I could paint at least 20 in one hour. So, for one sign, the labor costs are about $1.
When added together, my total cost becomes $1.94 per wood sign ornament. If I sold at $4 each, that’s a profit margin of 51.5%. At $5 each, the profit margin goes up to 61.2%. While you won’t get rich selling them, it’s a good margin – especially if you can sell many.
I recommend that you put your business information on the back so that customers can shop with you for a larger sign down the road. I use a Silhouette Mint to stamp the backs of mine.
If you are wondering, I used the Samantha font for the designs. You can pick up the font (usually on sale!) at this site.
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Great post and breakdown of info Christine. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I can’t tell you how many people I have referred to your site when they ask a question about the business or how to go about something. Thank you again.
Thank you for your continued support Jerri!