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I love wood signs and have even become mildly obsessed with making my own. What better excuse to create new wood signs, than to use on our bride and groom chairs for our outdoor wedding?
If you are looking to create something more personal for your wedding, or are simply budget-conscious, then check out this easy tutorial on how to make your own DIY wedding chair signs.
How to Make DIY Wedding Chair Signs
I have seen hundreds of different bride and groom {or Mr. and Mrs.} chair signs, but my absolute favorite has to this one via Elizabeth Anne Designs. I don’t know who made them, or if they are available to purchase, but they are gorgeous and I knew I wanted my own.
Materials Needed for DIY Wedding Chair Signs:
- 2 Pieces of Wood – We cut ours to be 12″x 5.5″ each
- Fine Sandpaper – I used 220 grit
- Stain or Vinegar/Steel Wool/Tea Mixture – see tutorial here
- Piece of white chalk {not pictured}
- Paint and small paintbrush {not pictured}
- Drill {not pictured}
- Ribbon
Step 1:
The first thing I did was decide what size I wanted my wood signs to be and then Eric cut the wood for me. Each sign is 12 inches x 10.5 inches. I then gave the wood a light sanding with 220 grit sandpaper. I used some wood leftover from another project.
Step 2:
I didn’t feel like messing with stinky stain, so I decided to use a homemade recipe consisting of steel wool, vinegar and tea. You can read the tutorial on how to stain wood using these ingredients on this post about how to make new wood look old. I like to use old jars or containers to store my “stain” mixtures.
Step 3:
After my wood was dry I wrote “Mr.” and “Mrs.” with chalk on each board. I don’t have the best handwriting but felt this would be the quickest and easiest way to do it and chalk is VERY forgiving and easy to paint over. So if you don’t like the way it looks, simply wipe it off and try again. I actually just looked at my inspiration photo and tried my best to make something similar.
Step 4:
If you like the chalk look, then you could definitely keep it that way and skip this step. However, I didn’t want to take a chance on the letters smearing and really wanted it to be painted on. So I hand painted over the chalk with white paint. One tip I would give when painting over the chalk with the color of your choice, is to mix the paint with a little water. You may have to do more than one coat, but it will go on soooo much smoother and be easier to trace. That’s my opinion anyway. I don’t have the most steady hand, and for some reason when the paint is mixed with a little water I feel like it is so much easier to work with and control.
Step 5:
After the paint is dry you can use a chalkboard eraser to wipe over the board and make sure to “erase” any chalk dust that may be left on the board, if there is any. I think I actually used a whiteboard eraser, lol. You could also probably just use a paper towel or rag but make sure the PAINT IS DRY first! You wouldn’t want to smudge any of that hard work you just did.
Step 6:
Drill 2 holes into each board for the ribbon to go through. I measured 1/2 inch down from the top of each sign and 1 inch in, and that is where we drilled the holes {and by we I mean my awesome fiance!}. He had to use a pretty decent size drill bit so that the ribbon would fit through.
Step 7:
Thread your ribbon through each hole. I used approximately 20 inches per ribbon strap and then tied it off. I prefer the look of the 2 straps but you could definitely use just one piece that goes across the board.
Step 8:
Test out your new DIY wedding chair signs and then enjoy them during your wedding reception!
The sky is the limit with these DIY Wedding Chair Signs – you can write whatever you want on them and even spruce them up with some flowers during the reception. That’s one thing I wish I would have remembered to do at ours, but I still love how they turned out.
Love the idea of using chalk to do your first work! And I’ve used vinegar/steel wool, but never added tea, so I’ll be adding that step next time I “age” wood. Thanks! And I love your “font”!!