Weekend DIY

So I've seen a bunch of posters like this and Krystal from Village even blogged about a vintage looking sign over here.

I've always liked the look of these, but I never fully agreed with the street names they used or the neighborhoods. So I thought, I can make this. And I did. But let me just say this before you start...it takes some time. Not 8 hours, but not a quick, painless DIY.

The top "Dearborn" needs a lot of TLC today and some perfecting...it was the last word I did and patience ran out!

The stenciling of the letters took about 2 hours and I'd say I have another 20 minutes or so of perfecting to do. That's just because I'm OCD, though... So if you're interested here's how to do it:

I bought 2- 16" x 24" canvases because it was cheaper for the pair and I'm thinking of making one for my friend who just bought her first house as a housewarming gift...

You will need:



-Canvas
-Stencils in whatever font you'd like and in different sizes. I did Helvetica in 3", 2" and 1" & 3/4"
-Acrylic Paint (I chose black & white) Pick whatever colors you're looking to incorporate in your house.
-Paint brushes of varying sizes (the man at Michael's recommended these brushes because they would be easier to handle and less of a chance of paint going under the stencil and all over in a mush of color.)
-A good idea of words you'd like to incorporate on the canvas. Type 'em up and spell check...you don't want to have misspelled words hanging up! Try to come up with a handful of shorter words/sayings/#s as these will help with tight spaces.
-Patience...it can get annoying here or there.

FIRST:
Set out some paper and paint your canvas the color of the background (for me, black) I used a painter's paintbrush for this to make it easier and faster. Don't forget to paint the sides too.



SECOND:
Let this dry COMPLETELY. For me this was about 4 hours outside in the 80 degree heat.

THIRD:
Have an idea of where you'd like to place the words and phrases (I typed out a word doc) Start with your main focal point/word and put that in the middle. When you're doing this I suggest you take the 3" letters and space it out to make sure you're utilizing the space. Paint this word.

***When you're painting, less is MORE. The paint will dry faster and it will be easier to work around if it's not super thick and mushy***



FOURTH:
Start varying the stencil size and continue to paint your phrases/words/#s.

I wanted mine to look like it was a slew of closely connected words so I didn't do everything perfectly horizontal. Some of my phrases are in between others and scattered about. I liked this, you may not so bust out a ruler.

****If the paint goes under the stencil and becomes a blob, don't worry! Grab your skinniest paint brush, dip it in the base color and slowly and carefully paint over it. I had a hard time with "O" so I would wait until it was kind of dry and then run a black line through the middle for the stenciled "O" look****

FINALLY:
After you've painted all your favorite phrases let it dry completely. I just let mine dry overnight. Then when it's finally done you can see if there are imperfections or things that are out of place and fix them the next day.

I think my first go at it was okay but I wish I would have taken some more time with it. And if I have a recommendation, I'd say practice on a piece of paper first with the paint and stencils so you get the hang of it and the amount of paint you need to use!

I hope this was something you thought was neat and easy enough to do. I think it adds a lot of character to your home and every time you read it, it includes places and memories that are special to only you!