Personalized Save the Date Sign

I decided to post about one of my most favorite things that I've made... a "Save the Date" sign that Micah & I used in our engagement photos! I made this last summer, so once again, there are no step-by-step picture, but I feel like this is a pretty straightforward project. 

The finished product!

I started out by making a trip to Hobby Lobby for my supplies. I looked in the unfinished wood aisle for a plaque, but I wasn't satisfied with the sizes... I wanted something bigger. So then I headed over to peruse the wall decor section (which was 50% off that particular week!) & found a rectangular wooden sign that already said 'Bon Apetite.' As much as I would have loved to hang that sucker up in my kitchen, I decided it was the perfect size & shape for my project, & it was already equipped with  a way to hang it! This was a bit pricey. It helped that it was half off, & I justified it by telling myself that it would be a nice touch to add to our future home's decor. 


I knew I wanted a slightly distressed look for the sign, so I mosied over to the acrylic paint section & picked up some crackle finish. The type that I got went on top of my paint. Last, but certainly not least, I also grabbed some antiquing finish & headed home. 


Our engagement session was outside in the height of a brutal, muggy Tennessee summer. Instead of fighting it... I decided to embrace it & wanted a playful, slightly Americana feel for our pictures. That idea was my inspiration for our Save the Date sign. I chose to paint it a basic cream (that went best with the colors we were going to be wearing). It took 3-4 layers of paint to get a nice even coat over the whole thing. You could still faintly read 'Bon Apetite' under the base layer, but once I was finished, it wasn't visible anymore. After that dried, I applied the crackle. (For this I just followed the instructions on the bottle.) The crackle I had went on your topmost layer & was supposed to crackle down to your bottom layer. Since I had to use so many layers of cream paint, it didn't really crackle down to the base. Never fear, because that's where the antiquing finish comes in! 


Once again, my printer wasn't working. So for the text, I taped together two pieces of printer paper & worked out my design on that in pencil. I just guestimated where everything needed to go & it turned out pretty well! But, for those of you who need things to be a little more exact, I'd suggest using a ruler to measure out where your words are going to go. Now, you need to get your design onto your freshly painted & crackled board! I took the cheap route & scribbled on the back of my paper with a pencil so I could transfer it. An easier way would be to buy graphite/transferring paper to lay under your design as you trace it. I also recently found out that good ole newspaper can also work as transferring paper. I have yet to try that out, but if anyone does, let me know how it works! I definitely suggest taping your paper to your board while your tracing it, so simplify your life & help free up your hands. After I carefully traced & transferred my text, I took a black paint pen & went to town filling in my design. Be very careful during this stage & do not, I repeat do not, shake your pen over your board because you'll get a nasty mess that is tricky to clean up. Take it from the girl who almost had a meltdown from doing this. :) 


After you have your text looking just how you want it, let it dry thoroughly. (I use a blowdryer to help speed up the drying process, because I suffer from a bad case of having limited to no patience.) After its nice & dry, break out your antiquing medium. I used a similar process with this as with my Deer Painting minus the damp paper towel. A dry paper towel is more than enough to wipe off any excess, & if you use a damp one it will take your writing off, too. Here is where the crackle detail really comes out! 

Detail of the crackle. 

I was super happy (& still am!) with how it turned out. This project ended up costing me a little more than I had originally expected - probably upwards of $40. But, I didn't mind, because it was for my engagement pictures after all! And the whole reasoning behind it was to use it in a picture for our actual save the date cards. Since we are only temporarily in Virginia & in a fully furnished apartment, I don't have any of my home decor stuff out, but I can't wait to make a wall collage of some of our engagement & wedding pictures with this sign!

Our save the dates!

If you like our engagement pictures, be sure to check out Emily Lester Photography! She's amazing!! http://emilylesterphotography.com/index2.php#/home/