love more – wood block

love more – wood block/sign. Natural wood with mahogany stain (paint & vinyl color options available as well). Measures 2.5” x 6” x 3/4”.

‘Show Love’ – wedding gift

My littlest brother got married not too long ago and I decided to make them something custom and really personalized. I’m a huge fan of personalized décor, so why not force it on everyone else, particularly my family ;)

I made this same sort of sign for my bedroom and just copied it for my bro & new sister-in-law, but of course I used their picture instead of ours!

My previous post about this “Show Love” quote goes into more detail about why I really like this William Shakespeare quote. I know everyone has their own thoughts & opinions about W.S., so maybe my brother thought it was weird when I handed it to him and he read it for the first time (I could tell by the look on his confused face). But as his older sister, I know better and he WILL like it (enter wicked step-sister laugh).

The sign in my room is just vinyl directly on the wall. We own our house and I know we will be here for a while yet. My brother, on the other hand, is still in college and will be moving many {many, many, and many more} times, I’m sure. I did. I didn’t know how to stay put when I was a college student. I was in a new place every year I went back after summer. Heck, I didn’t even stay at the same school longer than 2 years.

I digress.

I used some wood that Grant milled and went through the process of creating their picture. I used Power Point & Silhouette studio for this process. I took one of their engagement pictures, edited it down (like my other post describes in more detail) and traced their figures. It took a while, but it didn’t take as long as weeding!

I cut it out in vinyl to use as a stencil, so I had to weed all the little pieces of their picture (which was a P.A.I.N.). Then I placed in on the nicely sanded & routered board, stained it and finished it with a clear coat.

I love using stain on natural wood because you can still see the grain through it. I’m a huge fan of natural wood. I grew up working on projects with my dad in the garage and shop, so natural wood will always remind me of him. Stain on the wood usually makes the grain pop, which is another favorite of mine.

Someday my brother will appreciate this (if he doesn’t already).

Personalized Love Note home décor {wedding/anniversary gift}

My little brother recently got married and I decided to make them something really personalized. I snooped for some love notes they wrote each other while dating (okay, I asked him for them!). Something short & sweet. Really mushy sweet. These are what he sent me, perfect!

 

I started by importing them into the Silhouette Studio. Then I traced them and adjusted the layout, but only enough to fit them on an 8” x 8” board. I also used the “offset” function to make the letters a little thicker. I cut the love notes out of ’middle grey’ vinyl.

Then it was a matter of the boards for the signs. I cut 8” x 8” boards, sanded them, routered the edges, put keyholes in the back (for hanging) & painted them white. Once they were prepped and ready, I applied the vinyl. (There is also a third 8” x 8” block, reserved for a picture of the Bountiful temple in white vinyl with their anniversary date. My brother is still working on drawing the temple for me!)

I gave them to my newest sister-in-law at her bridal shower. They were a hit & unique to all the other gifts she received that night!