Her Tool Belt

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Wooden Fall Sign

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Another day, another challenge 🙂 ! Today’s challenge is the power tool challenge and the theme for this month is Fall!  I like these challenges, they take me out of my comfort zone and it’s fun to see what the others come up with.

fall powertool challenge

I went to Swiss Days a few weeks back, this is the Mecca for craft booths in Utah.  It is fun to browse through the booths, see all the neat stuff and buying wrapping paper is a must every year.  My kids were with me this year, so I spent way to much money. 🙂 A few decor items caught my eye though.  One shop had signs with really primitive letters of LOVE or HOME, and they replace the ‘O’ with a heart or a house shape.  The other one was a very simple shutter using 2 slats and they cut out a shape in the middle and used square wire mesh behind the cut out.  I knew I had to come up with a Fall project, so I combined the two.  As soon as I saw the LOVE signs, I thought that would be fun with FALL, hoping the maple leaf would resemble an ‘A’.

Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans.

Materials

  • 2 – 5/8″ x 5 1/2″ x 6′ Cedar Fence Pickets ($2.45)
  • 1″ Large flat head roofing nails ($2.98/lb)
  • 1″ brad nails
  • wood glue
  • sandpaper
  • Paint/Stain
    • My project cost:  $7.88

Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans.

Cut List

  • 2 – 5 1/2″ x 30″
  • 2 – 2 1/2″ x 10 3/4″
  • 3 – 2″ x 9 1/2″
  • 3 – 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″
  • 1 – 2″ x 2 1/2″

I like the old looking signs with layers of paint.  I started off painting a really light coat of orange tole paint over the 30″ rough cedar planks and let that dry.

Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans. Plus a blog hop to a bunch of other Fall project ideas.

Then I painted a really light coat of aqua latex paint, and let that dry really well.

Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans. Plus a blog hop to a bunch of other Fall project ideas.

I stained the letters.  I decided it might be fun to try varying stain colors???Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans. Plus a blog hop to a bunch of other Fall project ideas.

You can use whatever leaf you want, but here is the Leaf I used.  Once the paint and stain dried, I laid out the F, L, L approximately with the above dimensions.  Trace the maple leaf pattern onto the wood.

Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans. Plus a blog hop to a bunch of other Fall project ideas.

Use a jig saw or scroll saw to cut out the leaf shape.

Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans. Plus a blog hop to a bunch of other Fall project ideas.

Lightly sand the plank to remove as much of the aqua paint as you want.  I know it doesn’t look like it, but there really is some orange under there!  The corner cat worked fabulous for this.

Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans. Plus a blog hop to a bunch of other Fall project ideas.

 

Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans. Plus a blog hop to a bunch of other Fall project ideas.

To attach the slats together, glue and nail the 10 3/4″ boards to the back of the slats.  You can either use the roofing nails, or brad nails.

Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans. Plus a blog hop to a bunch of other Fall project ideas.

Nail the letters onto the sign with 1″ large flat head roofing nails.  The nails were splitting my letters, so I pre-drilled the nail hole just thru the letter, then hammered into place. Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans. Plus a blog hop to a bunch of other Fall project ideas.

I think it turned out kind of fun!  It would be neat to try it out in different colors.

Thanks for pinning the wooden fall sign!

Celebrate and decorate for the cooler temps and changing leafs of Fall with a DIY wooden fall sign, full tutorial and plans. Plus a blog hop to a bunch of other Fall project ideas.

Be sure to check out the other projects on this Fall hop.

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linked to: link parties, remodelaholic, savvy southern style, homestoriesAtoZ

Filed Under: Built From Scratch, Holiday Tagged With: , ,

Attention: Any do-it-yourself project involves risk of some sort. Your tools, materials, and skills will vary, as will the conditions at your work site. Hertoolbelt LLC will not assume any responsibility or liability for damages or losses sustained or incurred in the course of your project or in the use of the item you create. Always follow the manufacturer's operating instructions in the use of tools, check and follow your local building codes, and observe all commonly accepted safety precautions.

Comments

  1. I didn’t realize until I read the end of your post that your leaf shape is cut from the wood. When I admired your first picture, I thought that the leaf was metal and wondered how you made that cool metal shape. 🙂

    I absolutely love this project and appreciate your easy to follow directions.

    Reply

  21. Hello cute lady! I’m just stopping by to let you know that we are featuring your Fall sign at our party that starts on Monday at 7 pm. Happy Dance Time! Pinned and tweeted! Lou Lou Girls

    Reply

  23. Wow! I’m impressed with your power tool skills! I’m following your blog now. Love this sign and yes, the leaf does look like metal. This is a fabulous sign! I want one but don’t have the skills to make one. You should sell these! I’d buy one.

    Reply

  26. Your projects are so inspiring! Honored that you stopped by Your Inspired Design and hope you come back every Thursday at 8 a.m. For a chance to be featured on 6 different blogs. See you next week.

    Reply

    • The original idea was that the leaf be whatever was behind the sign, but the rusty look became popular. I’ve seen some people find a metal leaf to nail to the sign. Another idea would be to paint a leaf cut out to look rusty, instead of cutting the leaf from the sign.

      Reply

  31. Hi Amy . This is an adorable sign . Do you prefer to use a jigsaw and if so which one? I’m needing something to cut shapes but I prefer smaller tools that our more feminine hands and wrists can handle. Looking for a recommendation here.

    Reply

    • Hi Michele,
      What kind of shapes are you cutting out? Either a jigsaw or scroll saw are handy for that, both are really easy to use. If the shapes are more detailed and smaller, a scroll saw can be a better choice.
      I’ve only used a Ryobi jigsaw and it works good if you buy the Bosch jigsaw blades, I’ve heard others say they like the Bosch jig saw too.
      If you look into scroll saws, I’ve really liked my Delta Scroll Saw.
      Let me know if you have any other questions!
      Thanks,
      Amy

      Reply

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