I’m sure you’ve seen all the super cute signs people are hanging on their porches to add some curb appeal and make their porches more welcoming. I’ve wanted one for a long time, but none of the ones I found made my heart sing. It’s really hard when you know exactly what you want and what you want isn’t out there.
I wanted one with a black background and lots of little warm-fuzzy phrases explaining our porch rules. I wanted it customized with our name on it. I wanted a bit of a vintage floral motif. And this was the hard part, I did not want it distressed!
The only way I was going to get exactly what I wanted was to make it myself, but I’ve never made anything like a porch sign before. Are they hand painted? Are they stenciled? Do people use those machines that make vinyl appliques to make them? I didn’t know.
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| My second attempt turned out much better. |
So I went to my graphics program and created the exact design I wanted. Then I decided decoupage would be the easiest way. I’m not going to lie. My first attempt was an utter fail!! I found out very quickly that spray adhesive does not work to permanently attach paper to wood, even after it has SEVEN coats of indoor/outdoor spray lacquer applied to it!!!
My second attempt turned out much better. I bought a brayer and outdoor mod podge to get the paper to really stick to my painted board. Perfect! It worked so much better. The paper didn’t peel off the wood even before I lacquered it! I’m thrilled how it turned out! And I have to admit, now I’m trying to think of other things I can decoupage! Why didn’t anyone ever tell me how much fun it could be??
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| My finished porch sign is hung. Now it’s time to move onto the next project. |
Anyway. Now that my porch sign is done, the next step to adding more curb appeal to our front porch is to paint the landing and steps… But one thing at a time!
What do you think? Hit or miss?