I love to make a personalized gift when I have time. It feels impossible to find the time some days but when I actually start working on it, I feel so happy.
This #natureinspired craft is perfect for any season, as you can choose your own floral, and it is a quick thoughtful gift, like in my case, for a #babyshower.
My local Michael's store had a clearance sale recently and I found these 12" x 12" signs for so cheap. They have many other signs in their inventory so you have the luxury to choose shape, wood type, edging, etc. I also picked up all my flowers from Michael's as well. They carry three types of floral: cheap & plastic-y looking floral, decently priced & life-like floral, and dried real floral. I love the selection of real dried floral. So many colors.
Here is how I made my sign:
I wasn't sure exactly what I would need at first but did not use my light board (link here) or tape since my transfer paper worked just fine. Here is the link for that paper.
The sign was bare, so I added pre-conditioner and then stained it for some depth. I applied with a clean cloth and wiped it in the direction of the grain. I applied 2 coats of stain.
Then I let that dry. I found a jar graphic and added the baby's name on it with the font I wanted. I printed to the size I needed. I wouldn't make it bigger than 50% of your board.
I used the tracing paper between the print and the wood board to transfer the image to the wood. You don't have to push too hard as you trace because it will come off easily.
Then I painted over the traced lines using acrylic white paint and a white paint pen. At this point you could polyurethane the whole board. I wanted it matte finish and I knew this would never go outside and need that sort of protection.
While that was drying I cut floral pieces off that I wanted to use.
Once it dried, I began hot gluing the floral into an arrangement that if it was hanging from a wall you could see all the flowers still.
Trial and error on this. Don't be scared to pull up pieces if they don't look right. I like a little bit of the flowers to hang off and I like floral arrangements to be asymmetrical. Explore different textures and shapes and try out different greenery.
Overall, this project can cost very little. It depends on the flowers you use. Pick some from your garden, dry them out and use them. Or buy the gorgeous faux ones online and pay a bit more. It all just depends on the look you are going for.