Day #8: "JOY" Wood Sign

Welcome to day #8 in the "It's a DIY Christmas" series and link party! 

If you are just now joining the series, feel free to look around at some of the earlier posts! 

Click HERE for the introduction to the series!

Click HERE for Day #1: Faux Mercury Glass Ball Ornaments

Click HERE for Day #2: Advent Calendar Click HERE for Day #3: Chalkboard Art Click HERE for Day #4: Pom Pom Garland {Tutorial} Click HERE for Day #5: Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments Click HERE for Day #6: Making An Evergreen Wreath Click HERE for Day #7: Glittery Pine Cones I have seen lots of fun ideas for welcoming signs for a front porch. I saw this sign on Pinterest...and once again couldn't find the source! 

Source: scissorsandspatulas.com via Emily on Pinterest

Because I couldn't find the source, I couldn't follow a tutorial...if there was one. Here is what I came up with on my own:

So...as you can see, I wasn't in the mood to be original. :)  I just used a cheap pine board from Lowe's. I didn't prep it or anything before painting it with my home made chalk paint. If you are using regular paint, I would prime it first. 

I put on two coats of the chalk paint, let it dry, and then used a regular piece of chalk to outline the "J-O-Y." I used red craft paint to paint in the chalk lines...I didn't worry about it being perfect. I did two coats of the red. 

 Then I took a smaller brush to draw some shadowing with brown craft paint. I also painted a small, red border around the whole sign to give it some pop. 

After the paint had completely dried, I got my power sander out and distressed it with 120 grit sandpaper. A block sander would work just fine. 

Then, I went a little further and brushed some Minwax wood stain on with a foam brush {I believe I used "Golden Pecan"}. The stain slightly colored the white paint and gave it an aged look and it also seeped into the exposed wood. I really liked how it looked after this step! After the stain had completely dried, I applied a Minwax wax to the entire board to give it a protective coat. If you don't have wax, a poly would work. Although the poly would probably give a more shiny finish, which was not the look I was going for.  This project was very easy and didn't take much time. The longest part was waiting for the paint to dry. Happy painting! :) ***** It's time to link up! Remember: Any Christmas related blog post is game {recipes, crafts, Christmas family photos, family traditions, etc}. Be descriptive in your titles!   The rules: 1.) You may link up a different blog post once every day for a total of 12 entries.
2.) You must submit a direct link to your post...not just to your blog's homepage.
3.) Your entry/entries may be submitted anytime between now and midnight on December 12th. 
Tweeting, pinning, "liking" & sharing on Facebook, instagraming, etc are not required for you to enter, but it would be awesome if you would do what you can to spread the word....whether you are entering a link or not.  Spread the love! :)   {connect with Emily here}