So, I’ve
lived in my house now for almost nine years, and there’s one thing that has been sorely neglected; our address sign. The
post and wood plaque were from before we moved here, and they were never
treated in any way. When more numbers
had fallen off than were still on, I decided to take it down with the intention
of redoing it.
Two years
later, it still wasn’t done. When you live
out in the country and your mailbox is half a mile away, house addresses aren’t
needed very often. However, this
Christmas we ordered an expensive gift for my in-laws, and it was delivered to
my neighbors. That was too close! It was finally time…
We had
recently painted our front door a beautiful red, so with the left over paint, I
decided to spruce up the post. Two coats
was all that was needed.
That done,
it was time for the sign itself. I went
out and bought black numbers, with the intension of using the original sign and
painting it with white acrylic paint. I
knew that the three colors together would give it a more sophisticated feel.
Something
was missing though; a personal touch that would make it stand out. I started searching the web, and found my
inspiration.
Monogrammed Outdoor Sign |
I used the
same technique and painted the edges black to lock in the sign. I tried to tape off around the edges first, but
since the sign was older, it wasn’t a smooth and flat surface. I knew I could do a better job free handing
it, so that’s what I did. The sign
already had the decorative edge, so it was easy to use the lines as a
guide.
Then, came
the monogramming part. I could have very
easily printed off a “W” and cut it out, but I wasn’t exactly sure how big or
wide I was going to make it. Here’s my
secret… I found the letter “W” on my
iPad, increased it to the size I wanted, put a white piece of paper over the
top of it, and lightly traced it. The
iPad worked as a type of light box, and it was very simple to see through the
paper.
**I do NOT
recommend this shortcut for anyone that doesn’t have proper protection over
their screen, and I’m positive that APPLE would frown upon this idea.**
Once I got
the letter on the paper, I cut it out, placed it where I wanted it, and traced
around it onto the wood. Using my steady
hand, and a small paintbrush, I painted the letter black to match the rest of
the sign, using an acrylic paint once again.
I chose not to add any extra design to it, instead kept it nice and
simple.
I sealed it
with Mod Podge to protect the paint, and let it dry. Next, was to place the numbers where I wanted
them.
I’m known to
be a little over creative sometimes, but since the sign was looking so unified,
I decided to keep the numbers strait and even. Once, I centered the middle
number, I eyeballed where I wanted each number to be, but made sure they were
all an equal distance from the bottom.
Here came
the most interesting part for me. They were
nail on numbers with two nail holes per number.
At first, I nailed in one nail and when the number shifted on me, I had
to go back and make sure it was strait all over again before hammering in the
second nail. After the first number, I
found that it was easier to make an small indent in each nail hole where I
wanted the nail to be, then start hammering.
That way, no matter how much it moved, I knew exactly where to put it
back to.
After a few
grumbles, a couple crooked pounds, and a lot of curses when I hit my thumb, the
sign was put together, and looked fantastic.
It feels nice to have checked this task of my long list of things to do. Not to mention that I love having a piece of
our family hanging out for everyone to see.
**Our
original sign had hooks on it already, but if you’re starting with a new one,
EYE hooks and S hooks are what you’ll want.**
Do you like
this idea?
Let me know
what you think, or even send a picture of your creative address sign, so I can
see what YOU came up with.
Happy
DIY-ing!
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