Gold Foil Stenciled California Flag Sign

Not just any old sign, but a stenciled California flag sign with a gorgeous gold foiled bear! It looks complicated, but follow the tutorial and you will have your own in no time!

Although I’ve lived in Arizona for 10 years now, it’s never going to be home. Home is always going to be either California or Oregon. I fully plan on moving back to one of those states eventually, once the time is right! So for now, I thought I’d make a stenciled California flag sign celebrating my love of the Golden State.

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This stencil was sent to me by Stencil Revolution, back in the fall. I used one of their stencils to make the fun Let’s Get Basted tea towel that we used at Thanksgiving. I wanted to play with some gold foil and see if I could make the foil work on the wood.

I purchased the wooden board, which is texturized and whitewashed at Michael’s over the holidays. I couldn’t find the exact one, but I linked a similar. Michael’s has a ton to choose from, so get your favorite!

Supplies ~

• wooden board (similar)
• California flag stencil (18 x 12)
• DecoArt multi surface satin paint in Black Tie (Amazon)
• Foam Pouncer
• Tape (washi, Frog, blue, whatever kind you can peel off easily)
• T square ruler
• Thermoweb Deco Foil transfer sheets in Gold (Amazon)
• Thermoweb Deco Foil Liquid Adhesive (Amazon)
• Pallet knife (I don’t have a pallet knife, so I just used a small spatula)

Instructions ~

Find the perfect placement for the stencil on the board. I used my T square ruler to find the middle and get it as close to perfectly centered as I can. I made little marks with a pencil (to be erased later) and then taped the stencil down with the washi tape.

Since the liquid adhesive for the foil takes a bit of time to dry, I did that first. Take the cap off of the adhesive, and squeeze it out on to a paper plate. Using the back of a small metal spatula or pallet knife, spread the liquid adhesive from outside the bear into the middle. Repeat from all sides, taking care at places like the bear’s claws. At one point, to make sure I got good coverage, I used my finger to spread the adhesive. I wanted good coverage, but not complete, so that the texturing of the wood was appreciable.

Use the foam pouncer to apply a light coat of black paint on the land under the bear, the words and the star. I like to do the paint in two, very thin coats, to reduce the risk of pain seeping under the stencil. (I accidently got some paint on a couple of claws of the bear. When foiling it didn’t stick where I got the paint, so I touched up the areas with a toothpick dipped in liquid adhesive and covered the paint. Let that dry then apply foil.)

Once done with the paint, carefully lift the stencil off of the wood. Wash the stencil immediately to get the paint and liquid adhesive off.

Once the adhesive turns clear and becomes tacky as opposed to wet, it’s time to add the foil. Since my liquid adhesive went on thick, I gave it over an hour to dry. It typically doesn’t take that long. Place the foil transfer sheet on top of the bear and use your finger to really rub the foil on and make it stick to the adhesive. If you pull up the foil transfer and find some spaces where the foil didn’t stick, find a piece of gold foil and press it again.

So if you love California as much as I do (hello Disneyland!) then you need this stenciled California flag sign!

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