An Original Porch Sign For Under $20.00

 Happy Monday one and all.  Hope you had a great weekend.  It was rather soggy here in middle Tennessee and when I say soggy, I thought we were going to have to get out the gopher wood and start building an ark.  It rained and rained and rained some more.  I know we need rain, but it is not my favorite weather condition.  I prefer moderately warm, 70ish something and sunny.  But then, I guess we would all prefer that.  We are about to say goodbye to April (where has it gone).  It has been a real mixed bag weather wise.  It has been much cooler than the last two springs we experienced here and a whole lot wetter.  Guess we just have to live with it, although we live right across the street from the Cumberland River and mama, it is rising.  

Since we had such icky weather and no baseball games this weekend, I worked on some projects for our out of doors living space.  One of them was to make the sign above.  I have seen signs with "porch rules" on them, but I didn't want to make them rules.  There are enough rules in the world and no one wants rules for sitting on the porch.  Right?  I just thought of things we like to do on the porch and then put them on our sign.  This is for whomever wishes to join us on the porch, young and old alike.  Porch sitting is all about relaxation, putting your feet up, dreaming, napping, enjoying company, and making memories.  So, that is where my list came from.

Dan built the frame for me out of 1 x 2 wood.  The frame is 3 feet by 2 feet with a support in the middle.

Then, we used wood that is for replacing broken pieces on lattice.  It's thin and easy to work with and  comes in a bundle of about 12 pieces, 8 feet long and 1.25 inches wide.  It is available at Home Depot and Lowe's.  He cut the pieces the width of the frame and nailed them to the frame after I had spaced them where I wanted them to be.

Color was my next decision and I chose a green color because I thought it would look good against the yellow house and the white lettering would show up nicely.  I spray painted the front and the back with several layers to make sure there was good coverage.

Next, I hand lettered my "list" onto the boards because I didn't want it to look like a pre-made sign.  I used a small square shader brush to do the lettering.  No, it's not perfectly even nor does it look like a professional did it, but that's the look I wanted.  The final step was to spray the sign with a clear acrylic spray to help protect it from the weather.  The sign hangs under the eaves and will not get totally soaked when it rains, but the extra protection will help.

 The sign is rough and somewhat rustic - just the way I wanted it.  Have to say I am very happy with it.  Here are a couple of views.

The sign helps fill a big blank space on the deck wall and it adds a lot of color and "hominess."  Since we spend as much time as we can out of doors in the summer, I want our space to be comfortable and inviting.

You can see some of my concrete planters on the deck rail and they look really great there.  I have so many flowers to plant and hopefully it will dry up for the next few days so I can get that job done.  We are having company later in the week and I want everything to look spiffy for our guests.

This project was under $20.00 to make and it is colorful and original.  Hopefully, it will make all our porch/deck guests feel welcome and relaxed all summer long.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Making original art makes your spaces unique and inviting.  Pinterest and the "blogging" world have so many ideas to draw from.  Have fun.  Be creative.  Make art.  donna