This DIY sign for my nautical bedroom makes me smile every time I see it!
I feel goofy even making this into a post of it’s own, because it’s so ridiculously easy, but every good pun deserves its spotlight!
When I started working on my bedroom, I knew I didn’t want to go with traditional lighthouses and shells overload (says the girl who just posted a picture of a shell swag!), because it just isn’t me. I wanted it to have a little more spunk and color to it.
Putting a “No Wake” sign above my bed, cracks me up more than it probably should. What can I say?? I’m easy! Hmmm, maybe I shouldn’t mention that in a post about a bedroom…
But this sign is super easy too! Promise!
Just start with a piece of wood that fits your space. I recommend using an piece of unfinished wood or wood scraps. It will give it more of an authentic feel.
I’m cheap and didn’t want to go buy anything (and a procrastinator and didn’t have time to drive to the store)! So I used what I could find in my garage.
In this case, it was the slide-out keyboard tray from an old desk I redid!
That’s right, that slide-out piece has been saved for 2 years since I worked my magic on this piece, because I just knew. I KNEW. I would use it someday!
I sanded it down a little so it wasn’t so glossy, and then painted the whole thing white.
For the letters and oval, I used my Silhouette and the Arial Bold font to cut my letters out of contact paper to use as a stencil. (here’s another example of how I stencil using contact paper)
For stenciling, just make sure your brush is very dry after you dip it in the paint. I dip in paint then swipe it on a paper towel until it’s dry before I start dabbing on the sign. This has always been hard for me, since my normal instinct is to load up on paint. For this it was pretty easy, because I wanted a dry brush, weathered look anyways.
Then just peel off your stencil and you are completely finished!
If you don’t have a craft cutter, like a Silhouette, you can just use regular stencils that you find at a craft store. Or try this technique using pencils! I’ve done this many times before I got my Silhouette and it works great!
I might go in then and sand this to distress it even more and really give it that beachy look! For right now, I promised my husband I’d live with it for awhile before I attack it with my sandpaper!
Don’t forget to hop over to my Bedroom Reveal post and enter to win $200 in bedding from Beddingstyle.com!! They have so many options to choose from and the entries are pretty low so you have a great chance of winning!
Enter Here!
Some other stencil and Silhouette projects you might like:
