Fall is here and I don’t know about you but I’m so excited!! I love everything about fall, the cool crisp weather, sweaters and cute boots, and ofcourse anything pumpkin!! This has had me thinking about my plans for fall decor and one of my favorite things to add into my decor is cute seasonal signs. One of my favorite was is to layer different signs that compliment each other with out being to busy or overpowering one sign over the other. I find the best ways too do this is to use different patterns or textures that flow well with your main sign. Another thing thats important is to establish your anchor piece. This is usually the largest sign in the grouping but not nessusarly the boldest, it can be very plan with a simple pattern or texture, something that draws the eye in but is also not the focal point. Finally when doing a grouping of signs how do you know how many to do??? Well a good rule of thumb is to use odd numbers, things are always more visually appealing when in groups of 3 or 5, and making your own signs are the perfect way to get that hormones look of your grouping. That being said not everyone is artistic or able to make signs. which is why I’m so excited about this easy and budget friendly DIY sign project that I have put together for you today, what could be better right?!?

Supply list

Step 1

The first thing you will want to do is cut your wood board to the size you want. I used 1/2″ thick MDF board and cut it to 15″x13″. Home Depot will make the cuts for free or you can use a table saw if you have one. Keep in mind that your printable will be on a sheet of paper that is 8.5″x11″. Next, paint it with flat white paint and let it dry for a few hours. While it’s drying you can print out your printable.

Step 2

You can use my free printable here Autumn Printable or any other one you like. You will need to print a mirrored image of your printable. It should be easily done in the printing settings. You are doing this so that when you lay your image down on your board (printed side down) it will appear the correct way!

Step 3

Once your paint is dry, you can attach your printable to your board. You will need a foam brush and some Mod Podge. Take your foam brush and put a generous layer of Mod Podge on the printed side of your printable. Then lay it down on your painted board (printed side down) and smooth out the bubbles and creases the best you can. There will still be some wrinkles in the paper, but don’t worry. Let that dry for a few hours – you need the Mod Podge to be completely dry.

I really love the look of layered signs! It’s such a fun look to create a statement piece in your home. The key part to making this work is to establish your statement piece, and today I have a fun DIY project that can be used as your anchor piece. This board combines some of my favorite things: wood signs and SHIPLAP!!! This shiplap board is the perfect anchor piece in a sign grouping because it adds texture without taking away from the whole design. It can also be used in many other ways, such as in combination with a wreath, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Supply list

Step 1

The first thing you want to do is cut your MDF or plywood to the size you want your sign to be. Home Depot can make the cuts for you for free or you can use a table saw if you have one. Then measure the width of your board and cut pieces of shiplap at that length to stack one on top of another. You will need to determine how many of pieces of shiplap to cut based on the height of your sign. Now its time to assemble everything together! Fasten the shiplap pieces to the board using glue and brad nails. For a cleaner look, shoot the nails in from front to back. This requires assembling everything upside down like you see in the pictures below.

We used 1 inch 18 gauge brad nails. First we nailed the sides and then added a few more nails along the middle in a zig zag pattern.

Step 2

Now it’s time to paint. Don’t worry about painting the sides because they will be covered with your trim pieces. We used a paint sprayer but you can easily do this with a roller or paint brush. While that is drying you can cut and stain your trim

Step 3

Measure out the lengths of trim needed and cut them to size at a 45 degree angle. The trim will attach to the outside of the sign so that the sides are covered. It can be tricky to get the measurements right so I like to cut each piece a little too long and then slowly cut them down to size. 

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-Grey Birch Designs-

I love this project! It was so easy and they make a beautiful statement that is easy on the budget too! I looked into buying floating shelves before but ran into a few problems: First, I needed a unique size. Second, the ones I found were pricey and I needed 6!! That’s when I decided that we needed to build them ourselves. I’m so happy with how they turned out and we were able to build all 6 for less than the price of buying 1!!! These are my favorite kind of projects. Here is our quick, easy tutorial so you can make some too!

Supply List

1″ x 4″ pine boards (shelf sides)
1″ x 8″ pine boards (shelf top + bottom)
2″ x 3″ wood studs (cleat frame)
Brad nail gun or hammer and finish nails
Drill/driver and wood screws
Miter saw
Sander/sand paper
Glue
Level
Stud finder
Wood Stain (we used Minwax Expresso)

Board lengths will vary depending on how many shelves you are going to build

Step:1

The first thing you need to do is determine where you want the shelves and use a stud finder to mark the studs on your wall. The shelves are not heavy but I do not recommend securing them to just drywall. Once you have done this you can start building the cleats. They will be hidden and attach to the wall and what your shelf will slide on to. Make each cleat out of two short and one long piece of 2″ x 3″ stud. The total width of your cleat should be about 1.5 inches less than the desired width of your finished shelf. You can glue/nail or screw them together. Remember these will be hidden so they don’t need to look perfect.

Step:2

Mark the desired location of each cleat on the wall so they are equally spaced and level. Secure the cleats to the wall using screws long enough to reach into the studs – I recommend 3″ screws. Remember to pre drill your holes to avoid splitting the wood.

Once you have installed the cleats you can start building the shelves. You are basically building a simple wood box that is missing one side. Cut the top, bottom, and face boards all to the same length. This length should be approximately a half inch longer than the width of your cleat (so the shelf will easily slide on). Secure the face board to the top and bottom boards as shown in the picture below. I recommend using glue and 1.5″ brad nails.

-Grey Birch Designs-

Grey Birch Designs Instagram Post

April 14th, 2018

There are so many different ways you can make a blanket ladder, and I have made a few different styles myself, but I think this is the most straight forward and easy way I have found!

Supplies list

Step 1

First thing you are going to want to decide is how tall you want your ladder and about how many slats you want to have. I made mine 90″ tall and cut my dowels to 11 3/4″ I wanted a thinner look with more slates so that’s why I picked those measurements. Once everything is cut lay out your pieces and decide how far apart you want the spacing to be, mine are 7″ apart. Then mark the side pieces so you know where to attach each dowel.

Step 2

Now to assemble it you will want to put a dab on wood glue on one end of the dowel, line it up with the mark you made on the side piece and carefully fire a nail into the wood. Attach each dowel to the piece of wood you are using for the sides of the ladder then repeating the steps until all your dowels are attached to one side. Once that’s done you can turn it on its side and attach the other piece of wood with the same steps!

Step 3

Sometimes you ladder can be slightly bent after its assembled and that is completely normal due to the face that the wood isn’t perfectly straight most of the time. To fix this problem lay your assembled ladder on a flat surface and put some heavy objects on the top and the bottom and leave them there until your ladder is dry, I let mine sit overnight. Once the glue is dry its will stay in it’s new straight position. Now you can paint or stain it whatever color you like!

Hope you enjoyed this super easy and quick DIY Ladder!

-Grey Birch Designs-