DIY Custom Sign From A Salvaged Fence Slat

Hello again,

Today I am excited to show you a new sign that my friend Whitney and I collaborated on.  It was SO easy to make and turned out so adorable!!

Last year we had a bad storm that blew down a few of our fence slats in the backyard.  A couple of the boards were actually ripped in half and could not be repaired so they got thrown in the “scrap pile”.  I really liked the way they looked (old and worn) so I pulled a few out and told my husband to save them in the garage for a later craft project.  Fast forward to a year later, I had the perfect spot for one of the boards in our kitchen!

I saw this unique calligraphy font and saying on Pinterest that I liked and remembered that my friend Whitney was a very talented calligrapher  (she did her own wedding invitations!) so I asked if she would help me!

To prep the board’s surface I didn’t have to do anything because it was already treated before the fence was built and had naturally aged over the years into this pretty grey stain looking color.  I did however, paint a solid section of paint right down the center of the board so that Whitney would have a blank, smooth canvas to work from.  I used some left over sample paint that I found in my craft room called Sterlington Gray by Benjamin Moore.  It’s a very light, white-grey.  Then I bought a gold Sharpie paint pen from Michael’s for Whitney to use for the writing.  The space in our kitchen for this sign is very tall and narrow so I needed the words to read vertically.  Whitney did a GREAT job!!!  Here are a few pics of the finished product….

To hang the board, I attached a picture hanger to the back of it.  It hangs to the left of our kitchen sink as a pretty reminder to wash your hands!  I like how it looks against our new paint. (wall color is Revere Pewter BM and cabinets are Dove Wing by BM

close up of the writing

I left the unfinished piece at the bottom where you can tell that the board broke away from the fence. I think it adds character!