DIY: Rustic Signs

     Hi all! I hope everyone had an amazing weekend! Mine was filled with DIY projects that were more stressful than they should have been....after about 7 trips to our local Menards my face is officially breaking out. The silver lining? I have some pretty amazing things to show for it! You can save tons of money by doing projects on your own. Some of the projects I just did or I am planning on doing soon could cost you up to $1,000 at a store, but if you have people to help you, you can achieve the same look for much much cheaper! The first one I'm going to show you is the easiest one, its rustic signs.
     I first got this idea on Pinterest, and actually stole the quote from this blog:
               http://www.bloominghomestead.com/2012/09/pallet-wood-sign.html
I put it together totally different than her though, I also thought of some other quotes as well for a second sign! There is going to be lots of pictures on this blog so bear with me :) Oh and by the way my Dad and Jude helped me with everything this weekend! P.S. we all think my dad has to be part ape so that's why he's so hairy...luckily I didn't inherit that trait :) Here we go...

1) You want to find the oldest wood you possibly can to do any rustic project, if you can't find old wood add character to new wood by using a hammer, uneven cutting, metal chains, and power wash the board so it becomes more distressed

2) You can use any width for you wood it just depends on what you prefer. My first sign has 4 boards each 2 feet long, 1/2 inch thick, and 1 and 1/2 feet wide. For my second board I used 4 boards each 2 feet long, 1/2 inch thick, and about 1 feet wide.

3) I stained the boards first (I like stain instead of paint better for wood, because paint will cover up the grain of the wood while stain will not)

4) So once you've done all that take the boards and arrange them how you would like. We were going to use lats on the back to secure the boards together but they split..so then we used 2x2's :)

We used black screws to drill into the 2x2's because I liked the idea of seeing some screws on the front

5) Once it's all screwed together it's ready to be painted! Which happens to be my job....yayyy

The board is all held together by 2x2's and screws. It actually isn't that heavy either! P.S we stained it uneven on purpose so it would look more rustic.

6) Time to place your stencils on your board and figure out the spacing! If you are using more than one color start with one color, let the board dry, and then move on to the next color!

Stencils courtesy of Jude's dad, Randy! You will meet him very soon, he's helping with the kitchen table! 

I used left over white ceiling paint and it worked perfect! 

Me working away! 

The white is done!

For the Yellow, I went to Menards and just got a sample bottle for about $2.50

         And the final two signs came out like this! I love them so I will probably be making a variation of these again! 

The stain I used on the signs, It was called "Sunbleached" I love it because it's simple and gives things a beachy feel :) 

Sources: http://www.bloominghomestead.com/2012/09/pallet-wood-sign.html

I Wanna See The World Mama!

      I have an obsession with traveling! Before I die I will see as much of the world as I possibly can. My top ten list would include; Somewhere in Africa, Bora Bora, Hawaii, Italy, Ireland, Wine Country California, A tour of the East Coast, Alaska, Jamaica, and Grenada! Anybody willing to donate to my fund is welcome to :) I think my passion for traveling came from my mom. From a very young age my mom would take me on cross country road trips to Florida to visit family. We did it so we could see more sights and visit more states! Ever since I was little I vowed to myself that no matter how much money I have I will set aside some for travel. It's the one purchase that I make a few times a year that I never regret. Luckily, Jude also loves to travel. When we go we enjoy every second, and make memories that will last us a lifetime. Over the last few years we have seen so many new things and experienced things that I will never forget...

I can't stop laughing at this picture. Our first trip ever together  was with Jude's family (I was his little sister's guest) to Wisconsin Dells (Water Park Capital of the World) This is the only picture of us from the trip and it was about 6 months before we started dating...obviously at this point I was slightly more interested in him than the other way around :)

Our second trip to the Dells with Jude's family after we had been dating for about 6 months... he obviously liked me more at this point

Jude's first trip to Disney World, first plane ride, and first time in Florida!  We love Disney! Because I have many family members who work there I have been there more times than I can count, if you have any questions about Disney World..I'm your girl!

This picture is from the same trip as above, but this is Jude's first trip to the Ocean! Daytona Beach!

The next summer we went to Daytona Beach again with my cousin Tyler! Look how much we changed in looks in just one year!

Jude is a HUGE vikings fan so of course we had to go to a Vikings game! This was both of our first professional football game! Go AP (Adrian Peterson)!!

Panama City Beach! What can I say? We love Florida!

Jude is also a huge Cardinals fan! Not gonna lie I prefer the Yankees...and Derek Jeter's butt but the Cardinals aren't too bad. This was our first time in St. Louis and our first time in the Gateway Arch (bottom picture)!

Our second Vikings game almost exactly a year later! Again, wow we changed a lot in a year! I used to be a Cowboys fan but I hate to say this, Jude has definitely pulled me over to the Vikings!  In the top picture you see my obsession with popcorn! FYI for anyone who hasn't gone to a pro football game...GO!!! It is sooo much better than any other pro sport out there to watch...trust me the crowd gets soo into it!

A trip to the Dells with my family this time (notice my sister and Brendyn in the background)

And last but not least our trip to Puerto Aventuras, Mexico! We stayed at an all  inclusive so we ate and drank a lot! This is by far my favorite trip with Jude! It was Jude's first time out of the country (I've been to the Dominican and to Cancun). It was so relaxing and so nice to just spend time together with no interruptions for a solid 6 days!