Sign Boards

So I wanted to have a pair of sign boards to advertise our upcoming vendor event.  The location of the event is one block off of main street in Oxford, and it's pretty common practice in our town to put up some kind of sign to direct folks over.  I went to Amazon first to see what was out there and what was available and what it would cost me....huh, crap is available, this little number is $39, and this one is $119...plus shipping...well let's move on to Pinterest, let's see what folks are making out there.....ohhh, cute, made from an old crib...I do love this...hmmm, no crib at my house, this wooden one is pretty cute, I guess everyone loves chalkboards, but I keep seeing rotten kids on bicycles coming up and erasing letters to make it say bad things.....   

 So, I decided I could do better than this. Snort. I want it to hold paper-so I can work on the lettering anytime, without the sign, and I want it to look kind of vintage-ish. And I want it to be light enough to pick up and move. SO here we go!

I thought it might be cheapest to just disassemble some pallets-I see pallets all day long at work, and I know that they don't fall apart easily(unless you really need it to hang together, and it's on your lift truck 10' off the floor-then it'll fall apart) SO bought some lumber at Lowe's to get started and picked a couple of pallets to supplement the lumber. It's a prototype, so we'll see how this goes.

 Here's the purchased lumber 4' long and various widths.  And here's the 1st pallet I disassembled-I just cut out these short cross parts, because I wanted some to use as cross supports for my lumber.

 And here's the other pallet I worked on. I wanted a couple of long boards to go with my purchased lumber to give it a random, rustic look. This may be the worst decision I make. I didn't take the time to really inspect the pallet for good wood. Note to self-don't rush picking up pallets.

 But I did get a couple of good ones that will work out ok.

 SO here's the 1st panle in the works...I ran out of screws, but DD and SIL were in town and they'll bring me some more!

 There! That's the 1st panel it's about 22" wide and about 4' tall

 See how it has the one pallet board that's just a little bit more "rustic" than the others? I like that look. I made two of these panels and then I'm going to put hinges between them to make the sign stand up. I have to mention how much I love these old sawhorses I have had for a LOOONG time. They were hand me downs from a neighbor years ago when we were still in the trailer court. I love not having to crawl around on the floor to work on this stuff!

 SIL helped out too! Here he's attaching the hinges between the two panels. One other thing about the pallet wood, I think I would have been better off getting wider lumber for the top support, where the hinges go. See how they kind of hang over too far? Or get shorter style hinges. They're still plenty sturdy, but look kind of bad. Note SIL crawling around on the floor---not me! Thanks John!!

 So, I know the bottom of each panel is kind of jagged, so I plan to make a little "design element" at the bottom. SIL, helped me trace around a bucket lid to make a nice curve about 4" over from each outside edge. and then I used the jigsaw to cut it out.

 See, I stopped just to take this picture...SIL laughed at me.

 Doesn't that look awesome! I am SO HAPPY with how this sign board turned out!!!

 SO next I knew I had some of this chain around somewhere...hunt, hunt, hunt, and TA-DA there it is right in front of my face on the garage table, DD enjoyed pointing out I'm old and blind of course..LOL!...I knew I'd seen it somewhere recently!

 A couple of screws and there we go!

 Now DD is going after it with the sander-this is my dandy belt sander I got at an auction last summer-what I deal! I think I got it for like $10

 She handles that sander like a pro doesn't she!

 SO now I know a couple of things I want to change for the 2nd sign board. I'm skipping the pallet board..it's just not worth the work, and I can purchase the two boards for sign number 2 for less than $3.

 Day TWO-SO here's the number two sign board panel. All purchased lumber. I used scrap pallet wood for the cross pieces.

 And remembered to leave enough space at the bottom to replicate the curve cutout.

 I have extra help today, Kevin is helping out sanding the new sign board. And Kaitlyn is helping with the painting. Looks pretty good. Now we'll take the sander and work off a little bit of paint around the edges to look all vintage-y.

 OHH-LALA...doesn't that look great! YES it does! I purchased a sampler can of paint from Ace hardware for $5 and it is just barely enough for both sign boards. The insides just got a light brush over, but it looks really good! We wanted a color bright enough to draw attention but not so ugly bright to not have a vintage-y feel. Barn red AKA at Ace as Tulip red. Perfect color!

 I had to find some   bulldog clips-I got these at Dick Blick for about forty cents each. O predrilled a little hole and then used the hand screwdriver to attach them to the tops of the boards.

 Add some paper, and I put a big rubber band around the bottom to hold the paper for now. It works pretty well, but maybe I'll just use thumbtacks at the bottom. SO, I have about $25 in lumber and $5 in paint and $4 in clips and about $8 in screws...so about $41 bucks and two days of work for TWO sign boards! Come see them in action....

Spring Vendor Event Fundraiser Saturday May 16, 2015. 10am-4pm 

Oxford United Methodist Church 202 East Main Street oxford, IA
Your local Direct Sales businesses are ready for Spring! Come see all the latest products from your favorite brands.
 Shop with over 20 different businesses. Scentsy-Mary Kay-Pure Romance-Tupperware-Jamberry-It Works!-Tastefully Simple-BeautiControl-Thirty One-Avon-Perfectly Posh- and many more!

If you are interested in becoming a vendor for this event please email Dannie Godwin at einnad10@gmail.com