Dr. Seuss Quote on Wooden Wall Hanging

Have I mentioned I am almost 9 months pregnant with a perfect little boy? Well, I am! I am so excited for this child and have had a lot of fun thinking about the perfect nursery these last few months. Things are slowly getting put together as I finalize how I decorate, and this was one of those projects I've thought about for months and finally took the plunge on!

This turned out to be a pretty time-consuming, intense project because I had to figure out to make my mental image materialize (Sorry, I couldn't find any tutorials on this sort of thing! Guess I'm an original!), then had some equipment failure. Oh well, the end result was well worth any pain and now the tutorial I've made should keep things simple for anyone else interested in this project!

step 1: BUY MATERIALS

1.  4 wooden slabs (I used 1"x4"x8' and asked Lowe's to rip them in half for me)
2. Wood stain 
3. Brackets (found in the masonry section. Buy at least 4 of these flat pieces of metal) 
4. Picture hanging kit
5. Duct Tape (optional)
6. Craft paint
7. Paint brush

step 2: SAND EDGES

step 3: STAIN

I wanted a darker look, so I picked out a dark stain and chose to let it sit instead of wiping off the excess. I am just in love with the color! It was perfect! 

step 4: ADD BRACES

I know my way around an electric screwdriver, so I expected this step to be pretty simple. Unfortunately, my screwdriver ran of juice half way through so I ended up screwing in most screws by hand! I now have blisters on two fingers, my thumb, and palm of my right hand :( 

I first laid all the planks out to arrange them the way I wanted: 

 Then placed the braces and got to work!

step 5: MAKE A STENCIL

The reason this project took so long for me to get to work on was because I couldn't decide on the quote I wanted to use. I looked up quotes about children, boys, imagination, childhood, etc. and decided on something from Dr. Seuss. My husband really loves Dr. Seuss, and I like that his books/ quotes are meaningful but playful at the same time. 

I eventually chose "You're off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!" from Oh, The Places You'll Go. I love that it is motivational, yet fun! 

Luckily I could use my vinyl machine and a giant roll of junk vinyl to make my stencil. 

Attaching the stencil to the wood was a little difficult because it was such a giant piece of vinyl. I ended up cutting around almost every word to push out wrinkles (wrinkles would make the paint fill in unwanted spaces.)

step 6: PAINT

I wanted the natural look of white on top of wood. I used a foam brush to paint two light layers of the quote. It turned out to be just enough to be easily read, but with a natural whitewash look to it. 

step 7: ADD SOME BLING!

Don't laugh, but the "theme" of this nursery is Whimsical Woods. I want to have a lot of natural elements and animal, plant, and tree images but include some fun. Think fairies in the manly woods :) 

I'm trying to accomplish that by adding some silver and sparkly elements, like glitter on this quote board!

I added a small bottle of silver glitter to half a bottle of cheap craft glue (don't waste your Mod Podge on this!) and painted that on top of the letter stencil. I really encourage you to do this step- it is the PERFECT touch for a children's quote! Or it would be incredibly romantic somewhere else, too!

The paint and glitter glue dry really quickly, so I couldn't wait to pull the stencil off and see the results! 

step 8: ATTACH FRAMING ELEMENTS

This is so easy to do! Depending on the size/ weight of your wall hanging you should consider doubling-up on the wire like I did. That makes it more sturdy. 

I decided to put a could layers of duct tape over the braces and screws on the back to make sure they don't scratch the wall. 

step 9: MEASURE AND HANG

I took tons of measurements before realizing that all I needed to do was get the length of the wall and add my hanging to the half-way mark. Geez. Pregnancy brain? 

Again, depending on the size and weight, you should consider using a drywall anchor to hang your board from. Maybe even two :)

step 10: HANG AND ADMIRE!

I can't stop walking into the nursery just to see this wall hanging. It is exactly what I wanted and looks even better than I imagined!

This little guy agrees:

I really hope you try this project and love it as much as I do!