DIY Reversible Porch Sign: Fall & Winter
Hello all! Autumn has finally arrived, which means I can officially start decorating and sharing my projects/ideas. Today we'll be making a porch sign like the one I have out front of our house. I have ours hanging from our brick, but you could have yours hanging from a wreath hook over your door if you're not sure how to hang it on your house (for our brick, I used a fluted masonry nail from Home Depot, and drove it into the mortar with a regular old hammer- they come in 1# packages, so you'll have a lot of extra).
Supplies:
Wooden round (in your choice of size- these have gone up in price in recent years online. I always check my store first, because they typically have 18" rounds for around $7 each)
Sisal rope (I ordered 10' in the .5" rope so it would fit in the screw eye, and I'd have enough for 2 reversible rounds)
Screw-in eyes
Stain (I used American Walnut; in store, there are tiny cans for about $4)
Paint, your choice of color
Polyurethane
Painter's tape
Paintbrushes, various sizes
Paper towels
Optional Supplies:
Modpodge
Appliques (leaves, snowflakes, etc)
Glitter
Glue (super, gorilla, tack, or hot should work)
Paint pens (for easier writing)
Supplies:
Wooden round (in your choice of size- these have gone up in price in recent years online. I always check my store first, because they typically have 18" rounds for around $7 each)
Sisal rope (I ordered 10' in the .5" rope so it would fit in the screw eye, and I'd have enough for 2 reversible rounds)
Screw-in eyes
Stain (I used American Walnut; in store, there are tiny cans for about $4)
Paint, your choice of color
Polyurethane
Painter's tape
Paintbrushes, various sizes
Paper towels
Optional Supplies:
Modpodge
Appliques (leaves, snowflakes, etc)
Glitter
Glue (super, gorilla, tack, or hot should work)
Paint pens (for easier writing)
- Stain one side & the edges of the wooden round. Simply brush the stain on with a paintbrush, and wipe off any excess with the paper towels. Let dry.
- Tape off your spacing for the lettering. I wanted a straight line to help guide me when I was writing my letters. Spacing out 3 lengths of tape helped me keep the lettering the same size and at the same angle for both words.
- Write your words. You can begin with a pencil and then free hand paint over your words, but I'm terrible at hand painting, so I used a paint pen to first outline where I'd be using the tiny paint brush. My paint pens are ancient, so they're not very bold in color, so I knew I'd still need to hand paint over them to really make the lettering stand out. If my paint pens had been new, I'd have been done much quicker. Allow paint to dry.
- Apply polyurethane. I forgot this step on my fall side (d'oh), but this will help protect your paint & stain from the outside elements. I usually do 2-4 coats for extra protection. Allow to dry.
- Modpodge any appliques you may be adding. I used Dollar Tree fabric leaves for the fall side, since they come in decently sized packages. Allow to dry completely. Repeat on back side of appliques.
- Glue your appliques onto your round where desired. I needed to weigh down the leaves since they have a bit of a "popped up" shape, and I needed to make sure the glue was fully attaching to the wood.
- Repeat steps 1-6 to other side with your winter design. I will be painting my second side green, and using white lettering, maybe with a bit of glitter mixed into the paint to really make it pop. I'll also be applying some fabric poinsettias or paper snowflake doilies from Dollar Tree once they are available. I'll update this post once I've done that side so you can see the results).
- Screw in your eyes along the edge of the round. Luckily these wooden rounds are a softer wood, so you don't need pilot holes. I put my eyes about halfway down either side, directly across from one another. Having these installed on the side is what will allow your sign to be reversible. If you only plan on using one side of your wooden round, a cheaper alternative would be to use a single D-ring on the back of your round (though if you plan on hanging this on a door, you'll need to keep in mind how you'll hang this, as a wreath hook will not fit a standard D-ring. Using a D-ring would definitely work in our case, since we are hanging this from a nail).
- Measure, cut, and knot your rope. Leave enough rope so that you are able to have it come to a point about 9-12" above the top of your wooden round, while also leaving an extra 2-3" for knotting. This way the rope will lay nicely along the edge of the round and form a nice point for hanging. For extra security (and so that the rope doesn't fray), use glue to cap the cut ends of your rope. After that dries, slip each end of the rope through the eyes, knot underneath, and pull tightly.
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