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Make a Colorful Planked Sign

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I am guest posting at Kristen Duke Photography today as part of her Decorating with Portraits series.  Definitely go check it out, the whole series is so fun!

In the meantime, I wanna show you this sign I made:

 

I just finished re-doing my dining room gallery wall. Before was a sad story…black, black, black. And outdated pictures.

 I was sick to death of the black frames I had for years and wanted to infuse this wall with lots of color and brightness.  So I sprayed the frames green and glazed them with dark brown to give it an aged look.  Then  I took my kids outside and did some pictures.  I love how the color pictures look in the bright color frames.  And yes, I did coordinate my baby girl’s outfit to go with the colors.  Haha.

 

 

The instructions on how to make this type of sign is very straight forward.  I used some old planks I had leftover from another project.  I mixed acrylic paints to get the right colors and painted them.  And I distressed them a little by rubbing the planks together on the edges.

I picked this super cute quote from Winnie the Pooh because it reminded me of childhood and it was so sweet.  I cut out a stencil in my Silhouette and here are my tips:

1) You might want to use contact paper but if it’s clear, don’t do it!  It’s really hard to see when you put it on the wood and near impossible to get it straight.  That’s why the word ‘day’ is crooked…because I used my clear contact paper first.  Once I switched to black vinyl it was a zillion times easier.

2)  Trim the vinyl on a paper cutter so you can line it up along the bottom or top.  That’s how you can keep all the words straight.  I wish I’d known all this stuff when I started.  Maybe I wouldn’t have stayed up till 2:30 am finishing.

3)  When you paint the stencil, use the blotting method rather than back and forth strokes.  And then remove the stencil before the paint has dried.

To get all the planks together, I just super glued them.  And I used a wire thing for a hanger.  If that’s vague enough for ya.

Linking up to:
Blue Cricket Design
Organize and Decorate Everything

11 Comments

  1. Just popped over from your post at Kristen Duke — I adore your plank sign! I will definitely be rounding up some planks to make one of my own. Thanks for the tips! In regards to using contact paper, you can buy it in a few different colors/prints at Walmart (with the shelf liner materials), and that makes it waaaay easier to place, plus cheaper than vinyl. I use it for all of my projects where it’s just a stencil. Thanks!

    1. Heidi @ Honeybear Lane says:

      Thanks!! I need to get some of that opaque contact paper. When I bought mine it was really hard to find for some reason.

  2. Great sign! I love the colors you chose to brighten up your home {especially the purple!} Who doesn’t love purple!

  3. Shirley Lupton says:

    Love the sign. The pictures of the children are so cute….

  4. Love this! Like you, I’m sick to death of black frames. I may have to steal this entire idea!

    1. Heidi @ Honeybear Lane says:

      Thanks! I am so glad I decided to do color. It just brightens up my day. (And apt.)

  5. What font did you use??

    1. Heidi @ Honeybear Lane says:

      It’s called Lobster 1.4.

  6. I just love this sign! But when I saw it I was thinking more of my Vow Renewal as you see my hubby and I have multiple health and mental issues with me having the most, the worst, and the most painful, but yet I am determined to hand make all the things for our Vow Renewal including my Victorian Ball Gown that I am using a pattern for and tweaking to custom fit me so that I can also use it for Halloween {Light bulb moment}.

    All this to just ask this, would you be willing to cut that stencil out and mail it to me pretty please? I cannot afford a fancy machine for paper crafts.

    I am also your newest fan!

  7. I am so sorry to be begging you again for this quote to be cut out for me that I originally wanted it for my Vow Renewal. I never heard back from you and figured that you are thinking I am some freak stalking you but I can assure I am not. I am just a very ill woman who wants to leave her husband with a wonderful gift to remember me by should I die. You can find me on Twitter nad Pinterest as ffpaws and at http://masqueradingcrafter.blogspot.com and find out all about me.

    Just last week I found out that I have 3 valves in my heart not working right as they are Regurgitating blood back out of where it was just released which has caused my Left Atrium to Enlarge and I have been diagnosed with Grade 1 Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction according to my Doppler Echocardiogram. Essentially, I have Congestive Heart Failure. At this time, I am so physically weak I cannot even function and spend most of my time resting as I am very short of breath.

    So please help me out by cutting this quote out for me please. It is so important to me to show my husband how much I love him.

    Thank you in advance for showing compassion and for understanding the urgency in this matter and for your time which is so precious.

    Email me and I will email with my address.

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