Vintage Inspired Valentine Sign

Sooooo, i wanted to make a wooden sign for Christmas and just didnt find the time.  Well, the next holiday up is Valentines and im on it!  This last weekend we had a rare weekend when we had nothing planned – no soccer, no bday or family parties, nothing.  All in all i was pretty lazy but i did make this sign that i had been thinking about for a few weeks.

When i think Valentines, i always imagine candy hearts and scalloped cards that i used to get as a kid – man i wish i saved those!  Anyways – i wanted to give my sign a vintage valentiney feel so i thought the scallops were perfect.  I have to admit that after the sign was done, i didnt love it like i thought i would…its still not my favorite but its growing on me.  Maybe once i get the rest of the mantle decorated i will like it better…

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For the sign, i used some scrap boards that were 8ft long.  I cut each down to 4ft.

To attach the wood together, i just used some scrap wood strips.  They were glued and then nailed on.

For the scallops i found a bowl and used that as a template.  This is where maybe some measuring could have come in handy.  I ended up having to add another board at the end to get my scallops to come out even.

Then after i got everything drawn out, i used my jigsaw to cut out the scallops.

To add to the vintage feel of my sign, i bought some lace for a couple dollars and spread that over the wood – be sure to lay it out nice and flat.  Then i used some white spray paint and gave it a light coat right over the lace.  I wasnt going for perfection, just a quick light coat.  Right after i spray painted over the lace, i took it off and then waited for the paint to dry.

After the paint was dry, i used my orbital sander and gave everything a good sanding to give the fresh paint a worn look.  My boards i used were old and covered with dirt and cement dust (they were actually used for cement forms long ago!) – so to add to the aged look i didnt clean them before painting over them, the dust helps the paint not to stick in some places.

Next up was my heart.  I remember doing this same type of “string art” in elementary school, but when i saw Mandi’s post about her sign a while back it brought up some memories!  You have to check out Mandi’s sign @ Vintage Revivals here – its too cute!

I just like to eyeball things, so i didn’t measure or draw anything out.  Also, since i was going for a vintage, handmade look – perfection was not necessary!  I just pounded in the nails in a heart shape.  Some spots i had to draw a light pencil line to get the right shape for the    heart but other than that i just eyeballed everything.

Lastly i took some thin crochet string and wrapped it around the nails.  To start the string i just tied it around one of the nails and then just criss crossed the string around all the nails.  I didnt follow any pattern, i just made sure to get all parts of the heart covered.

Apparently, this looked like too much fun and Zailee took over for me!

After we finished the heart, I just cut the string and tied it off on one of the nails.

Here you can clearly see that my nails arent evenly spaced and are far from perfect!  But thats they way i like it.

Like i said, im not 100% sold on the sign.  Maybe when i do some more decorating on the mantle it will grow on me.  PLUS, i got some plans for my mantle!  I really want to change the color and some things on it, so thats why i havent finished up decorating because i will be doing a little DIY makeover in the next couple of weeks.  So excited!