DIY Pallet Signs!

 Courtney's cute mom saw a darling wood plank sign of a pink elephant a bit ago. She really liked it. But the elephant was pink...it only had TWO legs and it had a hefty price tag.

So, the two of us decided to make her one- exactly the way SHE wanted it and for WAAAAY less money.

It began this way:  Home Depo wood planks for $.97/ piece. Cut to size- we'll be able to use the scraps for another project- we really actually didn't spend that much on this board. We cut them (more specifically Mr. Fabulous did).

We assembled them will additional planks and some nails.

 We ended up with this LOVELY 4'x3' bunch of planks, ie, blank CANVAS.....

We started painting. We started with ivory spray paint. Just a heads up. The paint SOAKED into the wood doing almost nothing. We tried spray paint primer...yeah right. We went BACK to Home Depot and purchased paint...mixed by the sweetest older gentleman. We bought some rollers and started again.

It worked terrific and it all went pretty fast!

When it was dry (two minutes later) I started sanding the boards for that "antiqued-vintage" look we were going for.

After the sanding, we stood the board up, darkened the garage and then using a projector to project the exact elephant image we wanted up the on the board, started tracing it onto the board.

We brought it inside to my kitchen and started painting the elephant! We had debated over what type of brush to use. We bought all different kinds and ended up staying with what we knew best- foam brushes! It was the right choice. It gave us the control we needed to keep lines straight but also the ability to show some of the wood's 'character'. 

We did touch up with a smaller brush, though. Note the eye in this picture compared to the finished elephant eye. It was nice to have that option.

After the paint dried, we sanded again. We wanted it a little distressed- but not a whole lot.

Here's the finished product! On it's way to Countney's mom!

It's TULLE this week on MindyMaes Blog! Head over there for some cute ideas!

Mom 4 Real - Jessica's

I have been looking for just the right material to make an EAT sign for my kitchen for ages!  I made one out of vinyl, but I just didn't love it.  I've scoped out wooden letters at Michael's and Hobby Lobby, but they didn't do it for me either.  So, one day, I'm cruising through my facebook stream, and up pops these fabulous metal letters from Mindy Mae's Market...they were perfect!  I ordered them quickly, and was so excited to finally have the perfect letters to start my dining area makeover!

Aren't they fabulous?  The picture doesn't do them justice either.

The minute I put them up, I knew I wanted to redo the entire look of my space.  I grabbed some of my shells from last years trip to the beach, pulled my silver pieces out of storage, painted some plates with chalkboard paint to hang, and made a coffee filter wreath to hang on the wall.  The colors are so soft, and the EAT sign really pops off of the wall!

I put this little vignette together in the center of our table.  I painted the inside of a mason jar and plopped some flowers down in there...adorbs, right?

The last thing I did was tackle the top of my china cabinet.  I filled a large candle holder with wine corks, then cut some roses from my garden and put them in a julep cup.  I placed my silver platter and pitcher together, then added the K glasses that I etched, and added some candle sticks.  I just love the way it all fits together!

I love how crisp everything looks now...just in time for lighter summer living!

Doesn't my little EAT sign make you want your very own?

Nikki's Niche-Writing on the {Bathroom} Wall!

In an attempt to organize my bathroom, I color coded my children's things. Pink, Blue, Purple, and Green now mean something more than colors...they constitute ownership in my house. We had some vinyl for sale in the store a little while back and I kept one. It was black vinyl, though. I'm kinda on a boycott from black right now...so here's my solution:

I started with some left over planks from a barn-dooresque project I'll showcase in the future. You use any type of plank, really. These were already screwed to a smaller, unifying board on one side.

I taped off the neighboring plank and started painting

 (after I measured the size of the vinyl on the boards for a stopping point).

I did the outsides first and worked my way in...

Then I sanded it to make it look a little "old".

Then hubby helped me drill screws in {it actually is nice being able to JUST take pictures...not trying to drill AND take pictures}in an un-uniform way. ;)

Then I was banned from power tools and hubby cut the planks with a jigsaw.

I instructed him to cut them uneven. ;)  I like things "imperfect".

Then we..I mean HE sanded the bottom of the sign. 

I {yes, me} then applied the vinyl to the sign. 

Then I spray painted the whole sign. I didn't completely, totally cover it with white because I wanted it to look a little worn.

After it dried a little, but not completely, I peeled the vinyl off of the sign. 

This is what it looked like..I sanded it a little bit more and was finished!

I'll show it "in it's place" soon!

Materials used: 

'Bathroom Rules' vinyl from MMM

Pink, Purple, Turquoise and Green Acrylic Paint

White Spray Paint

Hand Sander

Jigsaw

8 Screws

Drill

6 wood planks (4 for the sign, 2 for support in back)