How to make a super cute sign.. two ways!

So, way back when I blogged regularly (I know..I know, we'll get to that.) I said I'd write about how I made this sign.

Into this sign.

It's seriously the most simple process ever if you can eyeball lettering..or easier if you can trace.. OR if you're super lucky and have a Shillouette it's the easiest project ever. (How many times can I say easy in one post?!) But I don't and I didn't have any paper for my printer to trace so, eyeballing it it is. But, first things first.

You saw it on our Christmas mantel, and I adored the rustic vibe it had going on and the faux aluminum letters. But, as much as I loved it we have a small house so things need to have a home or say goodbye. (For the most part) a sign this size fits into that category.

Luckily I applied the letters with hot glue which peels off with little to no effort. And was left with a perfectly good wood planked sign. A blank canvas if you will.


Now, I eyeballed my fonts straight from dafont.com and just went for it with a pencil. If you're more of a tracer you could write it out on the computer, print it and trace it on your sign and it'd probably be a lot less shaky like mine and more precise. I like to skip steps personally and I'm okay with a little imperfection. It's supposed to look worn right? Sure, I'll keep telling myself that. Ha! Or, you could go a step further and use a fancy silhouette and smack some vinyl on it and it'd be gorgeous. It really just depends on your comfort zone with imperfections and straight lines. :)

As Jami would say, Pray about it. 

Once I wrote it all down with a pencil and decided that it was good enough for my liking I used a sharpie paint pen and went to town. Little by little. What's nice about the paint pen is that anyone who can color can do this. Then that's it.

In photos you can totally see the color strokes and uneven-ness so I should probably go over it with some real paint just to even it up. Or I might not. So far it hasn't drove me crazy. ;) Maybe when the whole room gets done. But either way, It's a fun sign that was cheap to make the first time around for Christmas and free the second time around.

Now, I've been the BIGGEST fan of these signs for the longest time. I've seen them floating around Pinterest for ever along with seeing them on a few blogs and such. Nester was the one I believe who found the original artist. Woohoo! However, unfortunately I can't afford one of her's right now, so I'm not trying to say "hey, why buy her gorgeous signs when you can make them at home." I'm not. At..All! Because it's no where NEAR as good as this artists but, until I can afford hers I'll rock my little knock off version for the time being. I think she has some amazing talent and her work is definitely worth the cost of such a beautiful painting. Just giving credit where credit is due. If you can afford to buy "legit" haha, then I'd highly recommend it I'm such a supporter of buying handmade and when I can save my pennies to buy the lake painting, consider it mine! But if you're like me and would love to rock some handmade art and want to try it yourself, I thought I'd share how I made mine. Got it? Everyone agree? Yes. The wide world of blogging is tricky like that. I want to be inspired but not take. That was a lot of rambling and I hope it came out with grace.. HA HA.