Always Be Nice DIY Sign

This Always Be Nice DIY sign is a great addition to our family room. Plus I love the daily reminder.

When it comes to decorating my home, I am super slow at getting things done.  I just have a hard time figuring out just what I want and where to put it.  There is usually only one rule that I follow when it comes to decorating, if I like it, I will find a place for it.

When it came to decorating the wall space above our mudroom bench (which is actually in our family room), I knew I wanted a large sign.  I wanted it to say something that would be a constant reminder to my family of how to live our lives.  I’ve seen so many wonderful sayings, scripture verses and other things that it was hard to narrow down exactly what I wanted for my DIY sign.  As I was contemplating what to stencil on the sign, I knew how big I wanted it and what I wanted it to look like so I got to work on that part of the sign first.

I bought a pine board from Home Depot that was 1 foot wide by 4 foot long.  I wanted to distress the sign and show some different layers so I started with staining the board.  This dark walnut is my favorite finish, it’s what I used for the seat of my mudroom bench.

I just poured the stain onto the board and quickly rubbed it over the board with a cloth.  I don’t always wear gloves when I’m staining wood, but since I found them, I decided to use them. 🙂

Once the stain was dry, I used some white chalk paint to paint 3 coats on top of the stained board.  You can see the steps in the photo below.

Once the white paint was dry I decided on what I wanted my DIY sign to say.  One thing that I want my kids to always remember is to be nice.  I constantly am reminding them to be nice to others.  Especially to be nice to each other.  That seems like a constant battle around here.  So I contacted a local gal here in the Phoenix area who cuts vinyl and asked her if she could cut it for me.

Once I had the vinyl, I placed it onto my prepared board and lightly painted the letters with a charcoal black paint.  I did 3, very thin coats and removed the vinyl while my 3rd coat was still wet.

Once the paint was dry I used a sander to distress the sign so that some of the stained layer would show through.  My husband cut and attached the frame around the outside.

We were going to just place it on top of the bench on the top ledge, but I was afraid it would get bumped and come crashing down, so I had my husband hang it right above and it’s a perfect fit.

The saying is simple enough that my 1st grader can read it and I love the constant reminder.  Because if there is one thing we can be, it’s to be nice, always.

What saying or phrase would you put on a DIY sign in your family room?

Happy Sign Making!

Liz

If you’re a Disney fan you might like this Whistle While You Work Sign.