DIY Wood Beach Sign
Yesterday I decided to put my new {old} projector to work and make a beach sign using some reclaimed wood from the 1800s. I bought the projector off craigslist and it may be old school, but it works! The wood I used was purchased from a store near Athens, GA that I talk about in this post about my “Love you to the Moon and Back” sign.
The first thing I did for my sign was play around with various fonts before deciding on heartquake, which I downloaded for free from dafont.com. I then added my own arrowheads and arrow to the mix and after I was happy with the way it looked, I printed it out on a sheet of vellum paper. I wasn’t too sure how the vellum paper would work but didn’t have any transparency paper on hand so I figured it was worth a shot.
Here is the reclaimed wood that I wanted to use – I LOVE the colors and isn’t that knot awesome?! The edge was actually realllly sharp though so we had to saw it down a bit.
DIY Wood Beach Sign
The vellum paper worked surprisingly well and once I set up my wood and had the projector in place, I taped the vellum paper down so it wouldn’t move while I was tracing it onto the board. I will say that it wasn’t super clear, although it did get more clear when I made it smaller. I would think that this is where the transparency paper would make a difference, but it still worked pretty decently. Don’t know if I would recommend using vellum paper for a more detailed project though. I used a watercolor pencil to trace the letters and arrow onto the board.
After it was painted I sanded it down a bit to give it that distressed, I’ve been hanging at the beach and washed ashore look. Unfortunately, some of the pretty blue paint that was on the wood came off when I was sanding it, booooo. Next time I will be more careful. I then sealed the wood with polyacrylic and added a piece of blue rope I had leftover from my lampshade project.
And here is my new {old} wood beach sign up on the wall, yay! I LOVE making these signs. Think I’ll make some more and put them in my Etsy shop this weekend.
It’s funny but in this photo, you can actually see my DIY wood shim artwork on the left and rope mirror and lampshade on the right.
UPDATE: I have since moved the beach sign to be above my new beach inspired console table. Here is an updated photo:
So what do you think of the DIY wood beach sign? Now that my third ship helm is being used as a nautical wreath, I had to do some re-arranging with the other helms and think this is a good spot for them.. for now anyway.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Jana @ 333 Days of Hand Lettering
Great project! I love the roughness of it 🙂
Jana
Alice @ The Owl's Skull
Once again a beautiful project! So happy to have found your blog through my hop. Thanks for sharing:)!! Jess @ The Owl’s Skull
Upcycled Treasures
Thank you Alice! I’m afraid wood signs may take over our home for a while, lol.
Daniela
very nice! It would look amazing in my garden ( I leave near the beach 😉 )
Daniela
ehrm…I mean LIVE not leave!!! I clearly need some coffee!
Upcycled Treasures
Daniela – you had me cracking up with your second comment. What’s funny {and sad} is I didn’t even notice it! Now who needs some coffee? lol.
The Style Sisters
Love your beachy signs…they are to fun! Using the old wood just makes them! Come link up to centerpiece Wed. And share this post on my blog http://thestylesisters.blogspot.com/2013/06/dr-suess-party-and-centerpiece-wednesday.html
Karin
Upcycled Treasures
Thanks Karin, I would love to link up at your party!
Holly
Hi Katie – This is so creative and what a fun nautical vignette. Thanks for sharing and have a great day! Hugs, Holly
http://coconutheadsurvivalguide.com/blog/
Upcycled Treasures
Thank you Holly and I enjoyed putting it together. I ended up printing out the anchors photo and adding a border to match the colors of the beach sign to try to tie it in a little better. 🙂
Elena
Love this idea! This came out great! I could totally see this in my beach house on Cape Cod (now I just have to buy the beach house) :o) I’m pinning this to my crafts board now; thanks for sharing!
– [email protected]
Upcycled Treasures
You and me both! I’ve never actually been to Cape Cod but grew up reading Marry Higgins Clark books and a lot of them take place there, so I’ve always wanted to check it out. Thanks for stopping by!
~Katie
Jillian @ Hi! It's Jilly
I. Love. This!! So beautiful! Pinning for sure! 🙂
Upcycled Treasures
Thank you Jillian! So glad you like it 🙂
Christine
I love it! I have so many projects like this in que. It’s time to get them done. Thanks for the push!
Jenn
This is so cute! Love the piece of wood that you used. Thanks so much for sharing at The Inspiration Exchange. I’ll be featuring this tomorrow. Have a wonderful weekend!
Jenn 🙂
Upcycled Treasures
Hi Jenn! Thanks for hosting the link up party and I’m so excited you will be featuring my sign tomorrow, yay! Hope you are having a fantastical weekend!
~Katie
Patricia Krank
Hi Katie – I just found you over at Funky Junk Interiors. I adore your beach sign! Looking forward to browsing through your blog to see what else you’ve been up to. Thanks for sharing and blessings to you, [email protected]
Upcycled Treasures
Hi Patricia – Thank you so much for stopping by and I’m so glad you like the way the sign turned out 🙂
~Katie
Kathryn
I love that sign sooo much! It’s gorgeous! The whole wall is great! I’d like you to transplant that wall to my house (ya know, if you don’t mind!)
Upcycled Treasures
Haha, thanks Kathryn! Too bad I can’t just email it to you 🙂
Holly
Your signs are great…I have used a protector for wall murals. Good idea for signs. Love that driftwood.
Upcycled Treasures
Thank you holly! I really need to compare the vellum paper to transparency paper and see what a difference it makes. I look forward to using the projector for future projects as well 🙂
~Katie
Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co.
Love the rustic feel of your sign! And what a great wall vignette!
Upcycled Treasures
Thank you so much Sharon, I appreciate you stopping by 🙂
~Katie
Tanya
I love your coastal beachy decor so much! Stop by later today to see your beach sign featured 🙂
xo, Tanya
http://twelveoeight.blogspot.com/
Upcycled Treasures
Hi Tanya! For some silly reason this went to my spam folder, but thank you so much for featuring my sign and I LOVE all the summer features you chose 🙂
~Katie
Kathy, Petticoat Junktion
Hi Katie, Love your wood beach sign 🙂 Visiting from I love that Junk!
Upcycled Treasures
Hi Kathy! Thanks for stopping by to check it out 🙂
[email protected]
Thanks for linking up at THE Pin It Party! I co-host and have pinned your project to the Best of the Best Board! Congrats!
Upcycled Treasures
Yay!!!! That is so awesome, thanks Amy!
suburbsmama
Gorgeous beach sign! Thank you so much for linking up! Hope to see more from you.
andrea cammarata
I Simply adore this sign! TFS!!! It looks fabulous! hugs…
Kathryn Griffin @TheDedicatedHouse
Love, love, love this! Just perfect. You are one of the features today at the Anything Blue Friday party at The Dedicated House. Pop on in and grab a feature button. Here’s the link to this week’s party. http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2013/06/anything-blue-friday-week-14.html Hope to see you again at the blue soiree. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse