Pinterest inspired sign for Carter

I love browsing pinterest and getting ideas.  This sign that I made for Carter's room was an inspiration from this post on pinterest.  I know... my sign is nothing like the post.  It's not even a headboard, but it was that post that made me come up with the idea - yup, that is how my brain works.  I am horrible at following directions so it shouldn't surprise you that I came up with something completely different. 

First I went to Menard's and searched around for cheap pieces of wood that would work.  I found 4 beat up looking boards that were each 10 feet long and only $1.90 a piece!  Then I went over to Hobby Lobby and picked up a couple letters for Carter's name at only $.99 a piece!  There you have it.  This sign cost me less than $15 which makes it that much more cool. 

I laid my findings out on the floor and came up with this:

Cory cut the pieces of wood down to 5 feet for me so they would take up most of the width of Carter's wall.  The next step was sanding.  Cory used the power sander for most of it, but Ethan and I did the finishing touches with sand paper and muscle.  ;-)

Next step was to stain the wood.  I used the same stain that we have on the trim in our house.  Just one light coat and I did not varnish or sand after staining.  I wanted it to look imperfect and not too shiny.

While the stain was drying, I painted the letters the same color as the walls in Carter's room.

The next day I lined up my boards and screwed them all together from the backside. 

See my cute helper peaking over the top of the boards?

Not only did I attached the boards together with three scrap pieces of wood... but I also pre-measured where the studs were in the wall so I could hang the heavy wood piece on the wall and screw it right in to sturdy studs.  I wanted to make sure this piece of art didn't fall off the wall.  Someone very precious sleeps under this sign. 

And... since I did all my measurements to make sure everything was just right... and flipped over my sign to make sure it was indeed perfect... well... that is when I realized I messed up and needed to rotate my sign because I basically built it upside down.  The letters got moved to the top left corner instead of the lower right because that is where the wood was the smoothest.  I wanted to keep the rustic beat up looking wood uncovered.  If I would have hung it the other way then the strips on the back would not have lined up with the studs in the wall.  That probably made little sense and I'm sure I've lost most of you, but it worked out.  I like the letters better in the upper left hand corner. 

I lined up the letters and attached them with wood glue. 

 I also found a great use for some old text books.  They worked really well as weights over night to press down on the letters and get the glue to hold tight. 

Day 4: Yes, I probably could have done this quicker, but I worked on this over the weekend and the weather was too beautiful to just stay inside and work on projects.  So, on day 4 Cory and I hung up the sign in Carter's room above his crib.  I love it.  I think it looks really rich (as in color) and simple (as in my style).  Carter's room is small (and has very ugly orange colored furniture) and feels a bit busy, but this sign helps calm things down.  What do you think?  Do you love it as much as I do?  

Carter's nursery turned out nothing like I had planned.  I think I might try to brighten it up this summer with some white painted furniture or lighter curtains.  Maybe I could even find a white crib on Craig's List.  This orange stained furniture makes me a bit crazy. 

The best part about the nursery is the brown chair.  Oh how I love that rocking, swiveling, and reclining brown chair.  Best nursery room investment ever. 

Thanks for taking a peak at my latest project.  As always, there will be more to follow.  :-)