How to: Family Established Sign

This past weekend I celebrated my friend Stacy's birthday. Unfortunately, no pictures were taken, but we had a great time going out for drinks. I was pretty busy the last week, trying to put something together for my mom and aunt. Their birthday was Sunday, and I am happy with the way the signs turned out. The original tutorial can be found, here.

It all started off easy...

I went to Lowe's, and was able to find pre-cut pieces of wood in their lumber section. I was so happy when I found the slabs, because I didn't have measurements, and didn't want to try to guess. I had super glue, and although it worked, I wish I had bought wood glue. I went through the super glue so fast, I had to run back and forth buying more tubes. I bought the paint at Lowe's also. They have small tubs for testing that are perfect! I don't use paint for much, and didn't want to spend a lot on an entire can.

What You Will Need:

4 pieces of pre-cut wood

Wood glue or Super glue

Wood stain

Sponge and Paint Brush

Paint

Shims (used on the back, to allow for hanging)

Stencils - Letter//Numbers//Words//Birds

I laugh at that tiny tube of super glue....what was I thinking.



Add glue and hold the two pieces of wood together.

Add stain and allow to dry.

I was trying to finish quickly, and didn't take my time paint the tree. My aunt told me to take my time, and not to mess up....I was thinking - I got this....

...no I did not...

Be sure to make the trunk and the branches skinny. You want to make sure to leave enough room to add leaves. I used a sponge, and cut out a small leaf. I dipped my leaf sponge in the paint, and applied the leaves.

After looking up a picture online, I drew on a bird...of course with pencil. We all saw the tree disaster earlier. If you have a printer, I would print the bird out and use as a stencil. All the birds will be the same size, and you could print out a smaller bird for the children.

I had to use the back of the board....ignore the barcodes. Fill in the birds with your color of choice!

Use stencils for the words. I used a permanent maker for the last name.
You can also use permanent maker paint...up to you.





You may want to have something to help guide the letters. As you can see, my letter are not spaced well, and it's not straight.....unless you like that sort thing - Do your thing!

That's it! Once again, maybe use a ruler to help you get the stencils aligned. You can also print out what you want said on paper and trace the numbers using a pen to create an indention. I'll show you what I mean on the next project. It'll help keep the letters aligned. Every time I went to the library, it was close. We don't have ink for the printer...so I had to find another way. Also, maybe wait for the stencil to dry if you have to use it more than once. As you can see my 9 is a bit smeared. I love the way it turned out none-the-less.

 

Hope you all have a great day!

 



R&R Birthday Evening

As some of you may know, I just recently [yesterday] had a birthday. Still under the weather, but spent most of the day at work. To me my birthday is a special day, to most, it was just a normal Tuesday. I want to scream at people Hello! It's my birthday you know!  But I held it back, and treated the day like any other. Luckily, my loving boyfriend had planned quite the evening. He cleaned the house and led me [as well as a trail of petals] to our bathroom.

Isn't he handsome! He dressed up and met me at the door.
He's a keeper!

Ignore the mess, I have quite a few projects lounging around the house, waiting to be done. You can barely see in the top corner to the left is "Clyde." Sean's makeshift butler who took my belongings. Clyde was very helpful, although quiet. Sean was very proud of him. Sean had serene music playing, candles lit, and a bubble bath drawn. Also, for entertainment, he wrapped his phone in plastic so I could play a game.

It was so relaxing. Sean brought me wine, and sat with me to talk about my day. Is he not the best? While I soaked a little longer, Sean made me spaghetti. I don't know what happened, but when I walked into the kitchen, most of the meat and sauce was on the oven. He was in such distress with the mess he had made, I couldn't help but laugh. Of course to follow, I set my plate down on the couch, and rose to grab my phone....said plate flips onto the floor. Lovely. Easy fix, but it was so dark I'm almost positive there may be a stain. [fingers crossed the resolve worked]

 

The evening was a success, and I couldn't stop smiling! I couldn't have asked for a better evening.

 

 

Hope you all have a great day!