Simply Inspired: Handmade Crafts: Valentine's Day Wood Sign

I love this piece I saw on pinterest and just knew I wanted to make it for our own house. I had to agree with the artist, I'm much more partial to red pieces when it comes to decorating my house than the traditional pink for Valentine's Day.

Inspiration from: http://www.landeeseelandeedo.com/2012/01/valentines-day-mantel.html

I'm going to tell you how I made mine, hopefully best I can step-by-step,

so you can attempt your own or if you like... Landee makes and sells hers on etsy for $34.

Supplies Needed:

10x24 wood board, 3/4 inch thick

Liquitex Acrylic Basics in Naphtol Crimson (Hobby Lobby)

Liquitex Acrylic Basics in Mars Black (Hobby Lobby)

foam brush (25 cents Michaels)

thin paint brush (basic brush from paint art supply)

brush to seal with ($1 Lowe's)

Anita's All- Purpose Acrilic Antique White

Cricut

Cricut cartridge Plantin Schoolbook in shadow font

twine (any string or ribbon in color of chosing)

scrapbook paper

Minwax Polycrylic Satin (Lowe's)

I had all these supplies on hand so I cannot give you an exact price on how much each thing cost.

You can use any stencil you want if you do not own a Cricut. I liked the ease of it so that I could make different sizes, but again not necessary.

1) Cut your piece of wood to your desired length. I used the 10x24 since it was the dimensions Landee used and I like the length, but again, you can cut yours to the size that fits your space.

2) Paint the wood. I painted a base color of the Liquitex Acrylic Basics in Naphtol Crimson and let dry for few minutes, then added a few drops of the Liquitex Acrylic Basics in Mars Black and painted over the base color. I love the rustic look it gave to it instead of having just one color. Again, personal preference.

3) I then used the Cricut and cut out my words. For me, I like to use the actual letters and place them out first to make sure size and placement works. Then I use the word part for a stencil and fill in the letters using the Anita's All-Purpose Acrylic in Antique White with a thin paint brush. It does not take long to dry so by time, I was finished with the word and got the letters in place for the next word, it was dry. I did not worry about getting the letters filled in exactly or perfectly. The paint is thin in some areas. I did this to add to the rustic charm I was going for.

4) *If want step* I then took my sander and sanded a few areas to age it more.

5) Seal the wood sign with a brush and Minwax Polycrylic in Satin. Leave to dry for few hours.

6) Grab your twine or ribbon and wrap it around the board leaving the start and end piece in the front. I had this red & silver twine left over from an art project I did in 3rd grade if you can believe it. No I'm not a horder, I just have always loved crafts and kept pieces here and there as I was growing up for future projects... like today! Anyways I was super excited to finally have a use for this twine (dork I know). Unfortunately, the red in the twine does not stand out as much as I would like, but for now it stays :)

7) Cut out a heart from any scrapbook paper you have lying around. I had a small piece left over from a Valentine's scrapbook page that was red with black and white hearts on it. I used my Cricuit again to cut the heart, but any heart stencil you have or the original fold paper and cut half of heart will work too. Then take your heart and punch a hole near the top in the center. Thread the piece of twine that you left in the front of the wood thru the hole and tie it with the other end of twine.

You're done! All in all took about 7 hours (mostly for drying time).