I found some beautiful 12"x 5' pieces of wood at Menard's for less than $5 a piece. So basically, depending on supplies you already have at home, you could do this project for less than $10. Now that is my kind of project.
Instead of covering the wood grain with a couple layers of paint I decided to let the natural wood grain show through by just using a wash of paint in a bright gorgeous blue. I just love the knots and patterns of this wood. The color gets muted down once you distress it a bit with sandpaper.
After deciding what I wanted my sign to say, in this case twelve-two, I created a new image the size of my wood in photoshop. You could also easily create a word document or print out each letter individually the size you want to fit on the wood. Being a photographer type person I like to use photoshop for most everything, I even used it to write my resume. Once I got the wording sized the way I wanted it, in the text I liked best, I traced the words on paper. My printer died a few months ago, but it is a technique I've used many times before to get something the right size without printing it multiple times.
I taped the pieces together and transfered the letters on the the board with transfer paper. Next I painted the words in with white and orange and outlined them with black while I watched tv. Until I find the perfect spot, the sign rests on the curtain rod above my bedroom window. I have two more pieces of wood and I'm thinking about one for my dad that has something to do with hunting or fishing to fit in with his deer head motif.
