DIY Wood Sign

When redecorating the area around our foyer console table, I envisioned a grouping of 3 decorative pieces on the wall above it – the large family photo (which we need to update to include our daughter!), a circular mirror, and a ‘C’ for our last name.

I found the ‘C’ first while looking around the home decor aisles at Michaels and between the sale price + coupon, it was under $5. The mirror took a bit more searching, but finally I found one that I liked online at Target. Better yet, I used the store locator so I could go see it in person to be sure. Not only did I like it, but it was on clearance for 50% off making it only $6! After hanging both pieces, I realized the space still felt empty. It needed one more … well, one more something.

I was determined to create something and to do it without spending any money. I started by searching through our scraps of wood in the garage. I found 2 that looked like they would be the perfect size when paired together.

I used a simple hand saw and miter box to trim the larger piece so it matched the width of the smaller one. Then sanded the edges and faces of both pieces. I pulled out some leftover stain from our half bath makeover. I gently wiped a couple coats of stain on each piece using a rag. Since the scraps were different woods, they each absorbed the stain slightly differently. I worked to give them a similar color, but wasn’t too concerned if they were a little off.

Once the stain had dried, I measured both pieces to choose sizing for the text. I decided to use the taller piece for “est” and the other for the year. I played around in Photoshop to get the look I wanted for both fonts (you could also do this in Word or another text program). Then printed them out to scale on 8.5×11 paper.

I went “old school” at this point and literally ran a pencil on the back of the paper to get the graphite onto the sheet. Held the paper and one of the wood pieces up to a light so I could eyeball location and then traced the lettering onto the wood. Repeating for the other piece.

Next I carefully handpainted the letters and numbers using a small paintbrush and white acrylic paint.

After the paint had fully dried, I took the two wood pieces outside where my son helped me lightly sand them. My goal was to knock off a little of the acrylic paint and give them a more “aged” feel.

I wanted to attach the two pieces of wood, but leave a small gap between them. The easiest way to achieve this was to cut a spare paint stir stick we had in our garage down to size. I used our miter box again and the hand saw to cut the pieces. I lightly sanded the rough edges where the cuts were, but didn’t worry too much since these won’t be seen.

Finally I added a little wood glue to the stir stick pieces and tacked in place with my staple gun starting with the top piece.

I repeated this for the bottom piece. My next plan was to add a hanger, but I realized that we were out so I dug around in our toolbox again and found picture hanging wire. I cut a piece and used the staple gun to attach it to the stir sticks on the back.

With the project complete, I brought the small wood sign inside and hung it with the other decor over our foyer console table.

It’s a fun, unique piece that fills the space perfectly. Have you ever created your own wood sign? This was so easy, I confess, I’m tempted to make a few more in different sizes & styles.

Linked up to Dream Create Inspire Party and Do Tell Tuesday.

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Did you notice the “+ Giveaway” in the post title? Let’s talk knobs for a moment. Last week I shared the foyer console table makeover which included these beautiful new decorative knobs from Trinca-Ferro:

Trinca-Ferro has kindly offered to give 6 decorative knobs to one of my readers. The giveaway is open to US residents only and the winner will be able to choose 6 knobs from the vast selection on Trinca-Ferro’s website. It could be 6 of the same or a mix of different styles. Entirely up to the winner. Giveaway ends April 19, 2015. Winner will be notified via email and must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected. Knobs will be shipped directly from Trinca-Ferro.

a Rafflecopter giveaway