IOD Stamps Tutorial: How to Use The Barnwood Plank Stamp

Watching someone add a little weathered barn wood to their home decor brings up all kinds of DIY envy for me – how about you? And what if you don’t have access to a pile of gorgeous, roughly worn, and weathered wood? Does that mean you’re locked out of Farmhouse decor? 

Nope – not anymore! Iron Orchid Designs Decor Stamp Barnwood Planks to the rescue. 

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Watch as I upcycled a workbench in my shop – the one with the plywood top – using Wise Owl Paint and the Iron Orchid Designs Decor Stamp “Barnwood Plank”. Or scroll on down for the complete supply list and instructions.

HERE’S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO CREATE AN OLD, WEATHERED, FAUX BARNWOOD TABLE TOP

• IOD Decor Stamp Barnwood Plank
• IOD Brayer
• IOD Thin Mount (2)
• Wise Owl Paint in Peppercorn (email to purchase)
• Wise Owl Paint in Antique Villa (email to purchase)
• Wise Owl Paint Primer

IOD BARNWOOD PLANK STAMP: CREATING FARMHOUSE DECOR WITH ZERO CUTTING AND HAMMERING WEATHERED BOARDS. 

PREP YOUR FURNITURE PROJECT SURFACE

I cleaned the plywood surface of the workbench in the Gardenhouse Studio shop and applied a coat of Wise Owl Paint Primer, followed by two coats of Wise Owl Paint in Antique Villa. 

Read this if you haven’t worked with Wise Owl Paints before. It has all of my best practices, including how long to wait between coats.

THROW SOME BARN WOOD ON YOUR PROJECT

Even if you’re going to cover a big surface, the barn wood stamp pieces are very large (4 ½” by almost 12”.) With stamp impressions that big I was done in no time. That’s just one of the reasons I love this IOD Stamp.

There are three different wood or plank designs in the package and I decided to use one design per row of stamped impressions. I don’t know why I decided to do that and you can mix them up if you choose. 

I poured some of the Wise Owl Paint in Peppercorn onto the surface of an IOD Thin Mount and rolled my brayer through it. (min 2:00) You want to get the brayer pretty loaded with paint. Next, I rolled the brayer onto a second Thin Mount to make sure the paint was evenly distributed.

If you watch the video, you’ll hear me calling it Ink – which is plain old habit!

To add the paint on the barnwood stamp piece, I place it on the paper packaging the stamp came in, but you can use any paper. This will help me keep excess paint from getting onto my project surface. (2:25) I want to make sure I have enough paint on the stamp to get a clear image.

You’ll see that the stamps have lines along the sides that help to keep each stamp impression lined up straight so that it looks like a long plank. (3:13) As I add rows of stamped impressions, using the lines on the stamp helps it look like separate boards. (4:19)

Pro Tip: When you actually put the stamp down on your craft project, don’t forget to hold it in place with one hand and gently but firmly press down across the back of the stamp. Switch hands and repeat to get an even, clear impression.

To make the stamped impressions look like actual barn wood, I vary the amount of paint that I use which makes the stamped impressions come out a bit different. This creates a natural and realistic look – real wood!

EMBELLISH YOUR STAMPED AND PAINTED FURNITURE

Inside the Barnwood stamp, there are some smaller pieces that make the wood plank look all the way to REAL. One piece is a line with nail holes on either side. (6:07) You can see how I stamped it on the first row of planks.

Using this embellishment creates a look of planks nailed in place. On the second row of boards, I look for a spot that has less of an impression (lighter) or no paint at all, to add the embellishment. 

As I add more rows of boards, I stamp the line/nail embellishment at random spots because that’s how actual barn wood planks are nailed down. But adding some wood knot impressions takes it one step further. The stamp comes with slight variations of wood knots. 

Again, I add the wood knot stamps in areas with light or no impression. (8:59) Just step back and look at the overall design to see where an embellishment will work in your project.

TIPS & TRICKS WHEN USING THE IOD BARN WOOD STAMP

As I mentioned, I made a creative choice to use one of the board stamps for a complete row. But you can mix up the stamps you use within each row, too. 

There are some other things you can do to make the design appear natural:

You can flip the stamp 180 degrees. The designs of each stamp are so varied that by doing this, you’ll see subtle pattern differences that look like real wood. 

Varying the knot and the nail stamps used, and stamping them randomly, will also bring an imperfect (aka “natural”) look to the project. 

And, finally, let’s talk about using paint as your stamping medium. It can be a little more difficult to work with – so I don’t do it often – but the results are great. Just be aware that the paint will dry quickly, and it’s easy to get it into the negative spaces, or grooves, in the design of the stamp. 

That can muddy your impression, so use the brayer with a light touch, rolling it in several directions and adding in more paint to get the coverage you are looking for. And don’t forget to vary the amount of paint applied for some of your impressions for the perfect Random and Natural look.

I’m always looking around the studio looking for painted furniture pieces to showcase the Barn wood plank stamp. I even made a photo backdrop using that stamp on painted wood. 

Beyond repurposing furniture, there are many craft ideas and projects perfect for this IOD Stamp. Think chic but cheap home decor! If you try it, I would love to see before and after pictures of your projects.