Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Box Sign From...A Box!



Cardboard Box Sign

I'm sure you've seen these everywhere: box signs. Cute little statements written in white on a black canvas. They are very popular and you can buy them anywhere you find home decor. But why buy them if you can make them, right? 




This was my inspiration. I saw this one in TJMaxx and even though it wasn't very expensive ($12.99, I think), FREE sounds much better to me.

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I decided to make my box sign from none other than...a box! I had this empty file folder box and it looked perfect for the job.

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The shape was very similar to a canvas so I figured it would look right. I like using cardboard because it’s free, it’s not going to be heavy on the wall, and it’s recycling what would otherwise be headed to a landfill. 

I gave it a good coat of black acrylic paint.
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While it was drying, I went over to my computer and picked out the fonts I would be using for the letters. 
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I cut my letters out with my Silhouette cutter but you could cut them by hand or if you happen to have any stencils, use them.

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(One thing I didn’t take a picture of is that I wrote on the box with white chalk and then wiped it away to add to the aged/worn look.  You can’t really distress a cardboard box much, you know!)

I used a paint marker to fill in the letters.
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After lifting up the stencil, I went around the edges of the letters again to neaten them up. I am kind of sloppy with letters, even with a stencil.
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When I was done, I realized I had too much space between the word dreams and come so I free-handed the word "do" in cursive.  I think I like it better saying "Dreams Do Come True”.

Cardboard Box Sign Word Art
What do you think?



Sharing at: Domestically Speaking, Someday Crafts, Savvy Southern Style, My Girlish Whims, The Thrifty Home, Sew Much Ado, DIY by Design, The Trendy Treehouse, Lil' Luna, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Sugar and Dots, House of Hepworths, Something Swanky,My Repurposed Life. , Blissful & Domestic, delicateCONSTRUCTION, Whipperberry, Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Simply Designing, Simple Home Life
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13 comments:

  1. you could do something like this with leftover wood or just about anything! Free is good, and when you are ready for a change...make another one :)

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  2. Pinned this! I'm with you - FREE is always better. Great Idea.

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  3. Kathie-cute project. I love that phrase. :) good thinking using the paint pen... I've used them before I had my Silhouette. :)

    have a great weekend,
    gail

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  4. Love, love, love this! Now why didn't I think of that, to use a box?! Genius :) I just bought one of these signs for $10. It's the one that says, "No Monsters by Order of the Management." I don't think my letters would turn out as nice as yours anyway, so oh well! (But I will be trying this in the future, so I'm going to pin it!)

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  5. Very smart using the box! Great job! I love it! :-)

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  6. This is such a great idea!!

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  7. Very cute idea! I'm working on some shoe box art myself. Barb

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  8. Wow, truly an upcycle and refashion! I would love for you to link this up to The CSI project this week. The challenge is refashions/upcycles. This would be perfect and you just might WIN! Come on over each week for a new challenge, new tutorials and new judges.
    www.thecsiproject.com

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  9. Thanks for sharing at Snips & Spice Sunday Slice. I featured you this week!

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