How to Make a Wood Horse Stall Sign

Shasta and Dijon have had stall signs for years, but I’ve been lazy about making another for Nilla. After years of sitting out exposed to the elements, we had to bring theirs home to scrub them and I figured Nilla should finally also have one.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

It’s actually a pretty easy process, but the hardest part is really deciding on the graphic for the sign. It took me a while, but I finally deciding to combine the Nilla wafer logo with a mule decal I found online. While I actually can draw, I suffer from much too much laziness for that so the internet is how this got done. It also means this project is entirely possible even if you have no artistic ability. He’s how to make one:

1. Combine the horse’s name and the graphic you want to use.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

2. I reversed the mule graphic to fit it with the name.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign
3. Buy a wooden plaque from Michael’s or other craft store. They cost about $2.
Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

 4. Print and cut out your graphic and make sure it fits on your plaque.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

5. Place tracing paper over the image and tape the cut-out onto the tracing paper.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

6. Start tracing

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

7. Trace the entire image

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

8. Flip the tracing over onto a blank white sheet of paper and trace again. You can skip this step if you remember to inverse the image before you print it (but I forgot).

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

9. Flip over again and tape the tracing onto the plaque. Then rub with the pencil tip (no actual lead, you just need fine-tip pressure).

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

10. You can see here how the pencil I laid down on the 2nd tracing is transferring onto the plaque.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

11. “Trace the entire image onto the plaque and then remove the paper.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

12. Get your wood burning tool. You can buy a cheap one for about $10 at a craft store. These things are not safe. Never leave them plugged in if you’e not watching them and be very careful as they will burn you.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

13. Keep in mind the tool will not go around corners easily so I like to do all the vertical lines at once and then turn the tool off and let it cool down.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

14. While the tool is cooling, you can sand your edges.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

15. You can see below I’ve done mostly the vertical lines at this point. You’ll want to keep moving the wood around as you do the non vertical lines. You can’t really “draw” with the tool so it’s more like you move the wood around beneath the pen while keeping the pen straight up and down.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

16. The tool will get insanely hot and start burning your hand. I just wanted to get this done so I wrapped a washcloth around my hand. I highly advise turning it off and letting it cool. I also recommend buying a quality product instead of a $10 piece of junk if you plan on doing a lot of these.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

17. Finished with the wood burning.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

18. You only need a little sample jar of stain. I bought stain with polyurethane so I didn’t need to do a separate clear sealant after. Don’t get something too dark as you won’t be able to see your image beneath a dark stain. I bought my stain from the oops section so it was only about $3.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

19. Brush the stain on and wipe off the excess. If you’re a pro, use real cloths. If you’re just making this, use a paper towel. It’s not a huge project – I wouldn’t invest a lot in supplies.

Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign
20. You’ll need some screw eyes. You can screw these in by hand.
Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign
21. And then you’ll have a finished product. You’ll just need to mount it at your barn.
Do It Yourself Horse Ownership -- How to make a wood horse stall sign

9 thoughts on “How to Make a Wood Horse Stall Sign

  1. Olivia

    Thanks. I still feel like I can draw a lot better than I can wood burn, but I like to imagine a better quality tool might help.

  2. Olivia

    You can do it. I hope you'll post a picture if you do. Really, outside of burning yourself a lot, the project is pretty easy. I'd recommend buying a scrap board and practicing if you've never used a wood burner before – it takes some getting used to.

  3. achieve1dream

    I didn't know tracing paper would lay the pencil back down on another surface! Cool! I love the sign. You did a great job! Thank you for the how-to. I might have to do this someday when I actually have someplace to hang it. 🙂

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