I finally found time recently to finish a project I have been wanting to do for almost a year! Yay! With a household of two toddlers, you know how crazy (in a good way) things can get at times, so finding a bit of time to complete this project was no small feat! I made a large welcome sign to display by our front door and I am excited to share how to make one of your own!
What you’ll need:
To start, you will need a large piece of wood – mine was just over 3 feet tall by about 10 inches wide. It was a scrap piece of wood from a project of my husband’s, which I promised him over and over I had a great use for so he wouldn’t throw it away after sitting in the garage for months! You can pick up wood at your local home improvement stores (where many offer to do free basic cuts to get the right size for you) and craft stores may have some options available too. Or, you might be just like me and have extra wood laying around! This project is very easy to modify to whatever sized piece you end up with.
Next, you need to have the message you want in cut-out letters. My message is “WELCOME,” but I have seen ones that say “HOME” or something else like that. You can make your letters yourself or you can buy them. I used my Cricut to make mine. You can import the picture below into Cricut Design Space to make your own if you would like. You can also print and cut out letters by hand.
If you want to purchase the letters, almost every store that sells school supplies has a teacher section with cut-out/punch-out letters. They come in tons of sizes, colors, and designs. You can also find a bunch of options of letters online (this is a link to some I found with a quick search on Amazon). Whichever option you choose for your letters, make sure they will fit the size of wood you have.
I also added two messages to the bottom of my sign – one for asking visitors to remove/cover shoes and another for no soliciting. Since we have toddlers playing all over the floor, we try not to have shoes on in the house. We also provide shoe covers for people who don’t want to or can’t really remove shoes, like people coming in to repair something or honestly anyone else who wants them. (They have a huge selection on Amazon.) And, it seems like we always have solicitors trying to sell something random in the summer. You can certainly use my signs or create something of your own.
Lastly, you will need paint (optional if you want to go with the natural color of the wood instead) and Mod Podge, which will be the glue that literally keeps everything in place. You can find Mod Podge at craft stores and even other standard stores like Walmart. As usual, you can always find Mod Podge on Amazon! I used a matte form of Mod Podge, which this link shows, but there are several different kinds you can choose from to suit your personal style.
Time to begin:
Now, you are ready to create your sign! Your first step is to paint (unless you need to sand your wood first, which I didn’t). I chose a paint color that matched my front door – and we ironically had leftover paint from our door, so I just used that! Hint: Put down a plastic table cloth (they are super cheap!) to protect your floor and to make clean-up really quick and easy. I used foam brushes, but you can use whatever kind of brush you prefer to paint with.
Paint the wood however you would like and allow it to dry completely. Then, lay the letters and/or messages out on the piece of wood exactly as you would like to see them. I used the negative cut-out of my no soliciting and removing shoes messages, which is why you will see little dots I needed to place in for the o’s, e’s, a’s, etc. in the picture below.
Next, use a clean foam brush, or other preferred brush, to carefully adhere the paper pieces to the wood. Carefully lift the letter, add a thin layer of Mod Podge to where the letter will go, and then place the letter back in place. After you are sure the letter is situated exactly where you want it (you should still be able to move it around a bit at this point… you can even use tweezers to help if it’s difficult to lift!), paint a thin layer of Mod Podge over the letter.
Continue on to each letter, making sure each layer of Mod Podge is thin. Try not to have thick or clumpy spots, as they will dry and add that texture to the wood.
After each letter is secured, it is time to do the final coat of Mod Podge. Simply apply a thin layer to the entire surface of your wood – reapplying over all of the letters (which are probably mostly dry already) along all of the rest of the area. You’ll notice in the picture below (top left) that I just poured some of my Mod Podge onto the plastic table cover for easy access to paint it on over the entire surface. You can use a cup or plate too!
Allow the finished project to dry for about 24 hours, or until everything is completely dry. Then you just need to place your beautiful new sign near your front door! If you make this project, don’t forget to share it in the comments below – I love hearing from you!
