Housewarming Gift Idea- Burlap Last Name Sign

Last month, I went to visit my sweet friend Fallon to meet her new beautiful baby girl, Scout. I'm at the age where all of my friends are getting married and starting families. It's truly a beautiful thing to watch, and I am so lucky to have so many awesome people around me who are in the same stage of life. Not to mention, whenever I have some babies of my own, I'll have plenty of friends who can share advice with me ;)
Along with getting married and having babies, usually comes buying houses. So when I went to meet pretty baby Scout, I was also seeing Fallon and her husband's new home for the first time! So along with some fun goodies for the new baby (don't you just love shopping for babies?!), I wanted to bring a little housewarming gift as well. You might remember the succulent planter I made for our friends Sarah and Tim or the painted canvas I made for our friends Christina and Joe. I like to make a little something if I have the time! 
It can be difficult to pick out a housewarming gift if you've never seen the person's house. It's hard to choose the colors and style. I try to think about their personal style. I also tend to think about weddings if they were recently married, because most people seem to choose their favorite colors/style for that big dream day! Fallon usually wears lots of pretty neutral colors and had a beautiful rustic barn wedding, so I decided to make a sign using neutral paint colors and burlap.
Materials: -wood (I used a fence post) -paint -burlap -permanent marker -thumbtacks -gold paint pen

View blog post for supplies

First, I cut a piece of fence post left over from my outdoor bar cart and window box using a hand saw and miter box. I sanded the entire thing with coarse sand paper to remove the splintering and fuzziness that tends to be on these pressure treated boards. Then I re-sanded with a fine grit sandpaper to make everything smooth to the touch. 

Next, I painted the entire thing with chalk paint (but you can use any type of paint you like!). I used Decoart's Chalky Finish paint in "timeless." 

Then, I did some dry brushing with a few different neutral shades. I love the texture of these boards, and dry brushing really helps bring out some of the grooves. To dry brush, I like to use a stencil brush (mostly because the bristles are very stiff, so it gives me more control). Dip the end of the brush in a tiny amount of paint to just barely wet the bristles. Then use light quick strokes in the direction of the wood grain. Easy! I didn't worry about being too precise or neat with this part since it would be mostly covered by burlap.

Now, on to the burlap! I printed their last name ("Seeley") in the font "volutes" onto a piece of paper and cut a piece of burlap to size. I placed the burlap on top of the print out. You should be able to see the text through the burlap if you choose an open weave burlap.

Then, I simply used a permanent marker to trace the lettering. You may have to go over it several times in order for it to be dark enough.

To attach the burlap, I used some thumbtacks. I didn't have any in a color I liked, so I ended up coloring them with a gold paint pen. I placed one in each corner to hold down the burlap.

That's it! It was a pretty quick and easy gift to make. I love how it turned out and may even end up making a burlap sign for our house too!

Need more housewarming gift ideas? Check out my other two projects:

Succulent planter || Painted Canvas || Burlap Last Name Sign

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