Today I bring you a simple (and cheap!) DIY project.
To start off I’ll tell you about the supplies I purchased. I got a “Love Each Moment” sign from Dollar Tree ($1). I also happened to find these two snowflakes for super cheap (I think I paid $.10 each) at Joann’s last week. They were marked down because they were classified as “Christmas”, and they were a little battered and missing a couple of pieces. I was there for their huge yarn sale and threw these in my cart on the way to the checkout counter.
That’s all I spent on this project… $1.20!
(Keep in mind I already had the paint, brushes, glue, paper, and pencil I used.)
I began by flipping over the sign, and I removed the little hemp hanger (setting it aside to be replace later). I divided the piece into quarters with a pencil line at each indention/”plank” on the side. I then painted each section with the paint color I wanted…I was going for an ombre affect so I put white at the top, a pale blue next, followed by a turquoise color, and a true blue at the bottom.
(*NOTE: These signs are made of MDF and soak up water. The first coat of paint acts as a sealer. The water in the paint gets sucked up and the paint appears much darker than you would expect. Give it a second coat and it will be great.)
After my second coat of paint in each quadrant I brushed some of the lighter color into the darker section below. I went a little crazy here and ended up dry brushing all over until I got a look I liked.
Art is subjective.
After that, while the background paint dried, I set to getting the new words for my sign ready. I was not given the gift of beautiful handwriting, but I have picked up a very useful trick to help me cope.
Type up and print out what you want your sign to say. After that, use a lightbox or window to trace the words on the back side of the printout with a pencil. You will want to be fairly heavy handed with your pencil.
The next step is to figure out the placement of your words on your project. Lay the paper (printed side up) where you want the words to be, then scribble over the text with your pencil. Voila! You have created a carbon copy! Now you can paint your words into place.
After I had painted my words I went back and gave them a silver shadow on the left side.
Next, I took a small handful of Q-Tips and dipped them in silver paint. Then I randomly blotted the paint all over the sign. When I thought there was enough of that I took one Q-Tip and dipped it in white paint and added a few spots here and there.
When all the paint had dried, I added my snowflakes. I had Gorilla Gel Glue on hand, but hot glue would have worked just as well.
To deal with the missing bits each of snowflake I simply nipped off the ends where the little Styrofoam balls were/weren’t with some wire cutters.
After the glue had cured, I put the hanger back in place. And there it is, my $1.20 “Warm Winter Wishes” hanger.
What a great way to repurpose! And such a fun sentiment. Your redesign looks way better than the original!