Hey friends!
Hope you all had a great weekend! Ours was beautiful here!
Many of you have seen Ashley’s Reclaimed Wood Wall Art she did for above her couch a while back. I LOVE hers. In fact, every time I go to her house it makes me want to change the art above my couch as well!
So… I came up with this!
Here is how I made it!
I started with wood from Lowe’s. This is the great part…
I went ahead and bought 8′ pieces and cut them in half to save money. I used furring strips for mine. You can have Lowe’s or HD cut yours in half for you if you don’t have a saw. Or, you can also use a super cheap hand saw like THIS one. It’s really easy to cut this type of wood with a hand saw.
2 – 1×2″ furring strips
2-1×3″ furring strips
2- 1×4″ furring strips
My cost for wood was under $15!
Once mine were cut I laid them out like this…
Then I used 1/4″x 3′ birch project sticks to attach all the wood together. These can be found with the other birch boards and they were really cheap… Like $1.50 a piece.
I marked where I would lay my stick and then added a little Gorilla Wood Glue!
Then I nailed my sticks to the boards like this. If you don’t have a nailer you can also use wood screws! Just pre-drill your holes and attach the screw through all the boards.
Next, I flipped it over and gave it a coat of my very fav…
Here it is drying…
Next for the fun part!
I used my Silhouette machine and Contact paper to make my stencils. You can also buy your own stencils at a craft store or print your own letters and use a craft knife to cut them out with contact paper.
The font I used is called Arial Black.
I cut my L, V and E. I also used a heart shape that came with a set of 9 hearts on Silhouette Software.
You can see a detailed post on cutting Contact paper with the Silhouette HERE.
I lined my letters up first to make sure I liked it…
Then I put the outsides of the letters on to be my stencil. I used some acrylic cream and coral paint to add my letters.
My final step before I hung it up was to shanty it up a bit! I used an 80 grit sanding block to lightly distress each letter. I LOVE the results…
To hang it I had to get the hubby’s help! I just used 2 1/2″ drywall screws straight through the sign into the studs of the wall. I used three screws on the sign and it is super sturdy!
Want to see it up on the wall??
What do you think???
I hope you LOVE it 😉 No pun intended….
If you do, I would love for you to share the LOVE and Pin it like crazy below! Oh I could go on and on 😀
Thanks so much!
~Whitney
Hi, just wondering what are the dimensions of the sign, and the letters please?
What size is the overall sign, and what size letters did you use? So cute, would love to try
I can’t quite tell where you screwed in the sign. Top? Bottom? Middle? I don’t want the screws to be obvious from the front. Thanks!
I love this sign and can’t wait to make it myself!
What size are the letters?
Did you add a polyurethane coat after you stained this? I didn’t know if the acrylic paint would have an issue if you did or didn’t.
Did you get he project sticks at lowes or HD or from a craft store? I went to lowes and they gave me more furring strips? Are they referred to as a different name?
So you don’t need to glue all the boards together? Just glue/nail them to the birch sticks?
I LOVE the sign. Do you remember what kind of wood you used? Oak?
what are the dimensions of the letters?!
That’s what I need to know! ):
If I wanted to make the heart out of rosettes how do you suggest attaching them?
Here is a link to that post!
https://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2012/06/diy-wall-art-love.html
i do LOVE it! i’m thinking of using the stencils to make a door mat for valentine’s day!
Hello! Is there anywhere to see the photos of this process? For some reason they’re no longer showing up in the post for me. I’d love to see how you put all the wood together! (Found you on Pinterest and I love the look of the original pin!)
I see all the photos, could be your web browser. Hope you get it worked out. 🙂
You are so creative!!! LOVE!
This sign is gorgeous – when you stick the contact paper stencil on the stained wood, do you have any issue with the paper damaging your stain when you pull it off? I’m concerned it might adhere too well and lift off some of the stain. Thanks!
Love this! That stain color is fabulous!! I do have a very random question, where did you get your couch? 🙂 it is exactly what I have been looking for. Lovely blog!
Just found your blog – love everything about it AND you! Definitely loving this “Love” sign, though I think I love it more with the new fabric flowers on the heart & am thinking I’d like to create a headboard using this idea… My question though is where did you get the fabulous sconces on either side of sign? I mean, if I’m going to copy you I need to do so thoroughly, no? :0) If you can’t remember where you got them or if that place doesn’t carry them anymore, any advice as to how to seek similar ones out? Is there a name for them?
Thanks so much! So excited to explore your blog more!
Hugs,
Christine aka The Stampin’ Ninja
Wow I LOVE your LOVE sign! Our living rooms have a few elements in common but I like yours better haha!! I might try my own take on your love sign if you don’t mind me copying?
This is too cute! I’m going to do it with a quote on it for my boys’ bedroom. Using a quote I found on pinterest. “go on an adventure, sail the high seas, climb a mountain ….”
I LOVE this sign.. U have talent and very good taste! Thank you.
Thank you so much Tracy!! 🙂
Love the sign and the size! what are the dimensions of it?
Ok-this is awesome! However, I am trying to put the birch project strips on back and they are not long enough. How long are yours? I have bought everything and waiting to see what you would do…thanks!
I really love your sconces/ ledge on either side of your sign. Did you make them? Is it posted? I have been trying to do something very similar on either side of a painting above my couch, too. Thank you!
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I was told that paint wouldn’t stick to stain – but yours clearly did!! What kind of paint did you use?
What size are your letters? Thanks
Just curious where you got the couch! I love both the sign and the couch!
I do love this, but I love love love your coffee table! Do u have a tut for how u made. It? I’m new here
Super cute!!! I am going to pin this and try and actually make it! It’s super cute!!
This is just too cute, I love it. The rustic feel makes it that much more awesome.
SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!
LOVE IT! OMGOSH! and the little bookend things too… What’s the story behind those??? I want this little set of the wood art, bookends, and jars for above my couch! Lol 😀
This turned out so nice. I love the “rustic” look of it.
lexmallabooks.com
Great project and great tutorial! I love that you added the cornices on each side as well. Nice touch!
I’m new to your blog. Love your decor. Wondering if you made the industrial coffee table (visible in your LOVE wood sign post)?? It would be perfect for our soon to be re-done family room. Thanks!
I did Kimberly! Here is the reveal link and the instruction link is on that post. I did use rubber casters on mine that I made in the picture because of the babies 🙂 I got them at Northern Tool as well.
https://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2011/06/crate-coffee-table-reveal.html
Really cool! Love how easy it was to do! Great job!
Barbara
http://chase-thestar.blogspot.com/
Looks good. @valerie – I have a Cricut as well. You need software to cut any font you want (software is called SCAL), but the newest version does not support Cricut anymore. If you want the software that DOES support cricut email me at stephenbenham @ hotmail . com. Without it, you could use a font cartridge and cut the letters just the same.
Hi there 🙂 I am getting ready to make this sign this weekend. I was reading the comments and saw yours about software for the Cricut. I have a new cricut machine I got last year. I would LOVE to have access to some software to use with it. I was interested in your comment mentioning the possibility that their is some software out there that I could still access for my Cricut….maybe I am reading in to this too much and its just wishful thinking. I am not a total cricut genius so forgive me if my question is silly 🙂 Thanks for your time in reading this!! Have a great day!
Hello Kristin. Feel free to email me at stephenbenham @ hotmail . com and I can give you a hand with this!
This is adorable. Can I make one for the playroom that says mess? haha I may have to use this for something, for real.
LOVE it!! I can’t get enough of signs, letters, or anything to do with type…
as a graphic designer, I think it might be in my blood!!
love. love. love. brilliant and you have convinced me to attempt to make my own spin on your project. thank you!
Rustic and pretty. I HAVE to make one of these. Great tutorial 🙂
AWESOME!!! 🙂
Very cute. love anything with hearts and u made it urself! fabulous!
Love the idea…instead of the birch sticks you may want to grab a couple of the big paint sticks at the paint counter. They are free and are pretty sturdy for lots of jobs. Just a thought…saves another 3 bucks and no one can see them from behind. You are so crafty! I have to try this!
I love how this turned out!
When I got to the steps with the Silhouette, I was lost. I have a Cricut, which I guess is old school…?
Anyway, I’d love a tutorial for those of us without the Silhouette!
But yes–this is great!
I DO love it!!! So much so I might have to make one for our house somewhere!!! You did an awesome job! 🙂
This looks amazing! I love the varied sizes of the wood! Thanks for sharing! Bonnie 😉
It’s fabulous!!!!
Very cute! 🙂
I am in “LOVE!” Seriously! I am so pinning this!! Thanks for sharing the tutorial as well:)
You did it again 🙂 Looks awesome! Thanks for sharing!
So beautifully done! So glad I saw your project pinned on Pinterest!
Jenn/Rook No. 17
Julie,
I would love to see pictures as I do not have a Silhouette machine. What is DIP?
Thanks!
Karla
This is fabulous, I have a little addiction to wood signs.
This turned out great. I pinned it for future reference. I’m hoping to get a Silhouette for my bday this month…fingers crossed. Are they hard to learn how to use? I’m sure tired of cutting stencils by hand. Super job here.
Yes, I LOVE It. I do a lot of painted signs myself.
Here’s a hint for those without a Silhouette machine . . . using a photo editing program. I use DIP. Create a canvas the size of your board. (Mine are usually much smaller than this.) Find a font you LOVE, and do it on insert the text on the canvas, arrange it to fit, create an outline on the font, then make the font white. You will be left with just the outline of each letter – then ‘Print” – exact size. You can use carbon paper, or better yet – scribble the back with a pencil, then trace over it on your board.
Then paint! I’ve made countless ones this way. Let me know If you’d like to see some pics.
Julie
Hi Julie! I was reading your post and found it interesting. Could you send me pics or more info on your method? Thanks! [email protected]