Sign Painting Tips: This Home Runs on Coffee

Ready for my first DIY of the new year? Except I’ve actually had it up in my house for about a month… Shh! So I know there are 10001 wooden sign tutorials out there so instead of the step by step, I’m going to link you to a great basic tutorial but then give you some tips to help you rock it, get a clean (less farmhouse) look, and save some money in the process. Oh, and then give you my hand lettered design so you coffee lovers can make your own. Deal?

Let me start by saying this is my first wooden sign with a frame. I’ve framed pegboard and canvas with the same method but not with the mitred corners. I LOVE the look of mitred corners, but as you can see I didn’t totally nail the assembly of this one. Get it? Nail ;) I also rushed a bit through the painting (you can tell!) as I wanted to have it done before we had company over for the holidays SO in doing this I’ve learned a few things and have total confidence that my next sign will be 1000x better using these tips.
Okay, let’s get a basic tutorial out of the way. My friend Kim is a master at building these things, so I followed her tutorial but switched up the corners. You can find her tutorial (with major hand holding- ha!) right here.

Mitred Corners Done Right

So tip one is that mitred corners (over farmhouse corners, which are square) can give a cleaner, more modern than farmhouse look IF they’re done right. The ones I did aren’t. *sniff*.
Take the time to make sure your wood planks (if you’re using that instead of plywood) are perfectly lined up and evenly cut. having one out will make the gaps in your mitred corners really obvious (notice mine- that’s from one board that was slightly longer than the rest). You can also use corner clamps to hold everything in place while you’re nailing. I just bought these ones and they are magic. We’re using them on some drawers we made last weekend and man, they make such a difference.
Read More: http://www.lemonthistle.com/sign-painting-tips-this-home-runs-on-coffee
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