My kids and I are getting geared up for some Halloween and fall decorating. I had actually made this no soliciting sign in the spring, but wasn’t happy with the pot it was in. Just last week I bought a new pot, and the fall leaves at Walmart, and now I’m very pleased with the presentation.
The sign itself wasn’t to hard to create. I purchased 3 pieces of thin wood 1 1/2” x 24” at Lowe’s, and kindly asked my husband to cut them in half for me, making 6 pieces 12” long. We then glued the pieces together with some wood glue. After the glue dried, my hubby sanded it making the surface smooth, I probably would have left it a little rough to give it more of a distressed look, but it still turned out nice.
I spray painted the sign first with a coat of black, and a couple coats of purple (just because it’s my favorite color). I scuffed up the edges a little with some sand paper revealing a little of the black paint and wood.
Then it was time to add the wording. To do this part, I designed what I wanted it to say in Photoshop, playing with different fonts. Once I had everything to my liking, I printed it out on a plain piece of paper. Unfortunately I don’t have a Silhouette Cameo yet, I guess I’ll have to put that on my wish list for Christmas (hint, hint..lol). So instead of cutting it out in vinyl, I taped my piece of paper onto the board and traced everything with a black Sharpie, making sure to let the marker bleed thru the paper. Once I had my guide on the board I then used a couple Elmer’s white paint pens to color in the words. I used a fine tip paint pen for the thinner fonts and lines, and a medium point for the thicker ones. It took about 2 coats, allowing the previous coat to completely dry before going over it again, to get the desired look.
I sealed the board with a flat clear sealer. For the post, I found a cheap yard stick at Lowe’s, cut a point on the end of it, spray painted it to match the sign, then glued it to the board.
The sign has worked great. I’m happy to report that I had no sales people knock on my door all summer. I even saw it in action one day, looking out my front window. A dairy salesman started to walk up my driveway, saw the sign, then turned around and walked to the neighbor’s. I also get comments from friends and neighbors on how cute the sign is, and they all get a chuckle out of it.
