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Home » DIY & Crafts » Craft Projects » Valentine’s Trail Sign

Valentine’s Trail Sign

January 25, 2015 By Amy 16 Comments

25 Jan
6.9K shares
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Does your Valentine need directions? I have not been getting very crafty lately but when, Lisa, a reader commented on my Valentine’s Twig Heart Trivet, she mentioned a crafty project that she has made in the past, and there I was, feeling inspired to craft something for Valentine’s Day. Something to point a Valentine in the right direction!!

I’ve dyed toothpicks with red food coloring when I made the Valentine’s candle wraps, so this time I wanted to go bigger, as in pallet wood slats and perhaps a trail sign with clever Valentine’s Day expressions. Oh, I think I’m soooo creative, don’t I?

valentines-day-trail-signs-http://www.stowandtellu.com

Valentine’s Day Trail Sign

This Valentine’s Day Trail sign might help or confuse your Valentine, but could it be any cuter?!!

I sent a pic of this to my son while we were Skyping. He said, “Ma, this is the kind of cheesy thing I see on the web and roll my eyes at…but, yes it’s cute…in a girly kind of way…”

My husband just looked at it and said, “ooohh jeeeeze!”

pallet-slats

I started with 3 pallet wood slats

pallet-slat

I used a measuring tape and chalk to draw some trail sign arrows on 2 of the slats.

trail-sign-arrows

Ken cut these out for me with his table saw, but a hand saw would work too.

I sanded the arrows with my power hand sander.

how-to-stain-wood-food-coloring

Next I mixed 1/4 cup hot water, 2 tablespoons vinegar and about 15 drops of red food coloring into a glass jar, and then applied the dye mixture to the wood slats in 2 coats and let the slats dry.

I also painted the 3rd slat with white paint, let that dry, and then ran the power sander over the white paint to get a weathered look.

diy-wood-dye-food-coloring-trail-signs-www.stowandtellu.com

I laid out the slats onto the painted white piece with a trail sign arrangement in mind.

How-to-make-trail-signage-www.stowandtellu.com

I made some catchy Valentine-trail sign saying using PicMonkey in the Eraser Dust font.

You can follow these steps to make the wording:

Go to:  PicMoneky

Click:  Design

Click:  Custom

Adjust size to:  2000 x 1400

Resize to:  1001 x 701 

From that point:  start adding text as if you are writing it onto

an 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper in the landscape position.

Save to desktop

Print out as a full page

Tip: since the slats were about 11″ long, I printed my sayings to fit on a standard 8-1/2″ x 11″ piece of paper in the landscape format.

The top slat was slightly larger, so I made that layout a little bigger.

diy-trail-sign-valentines-day

I cut out the sayings and laid them onto the slats, and then placed carbon paper underneath the paper and traced with a pencil.

valentines-decor-camping-trail-sign-www.stownadtellu.com

I then used a white paint pen to trace over and then fill all the letters in with white paint. I went over the letters about 3 times, letting the paint dry in between.

I gave all the slats a quick sanding and then adhered them all to the painted white slat with construction adhesive. 2 holes were drilled for wire or twine so that it could be a hanging piece.

diy-trail-signage-valentines-day-decor-craft-http://www.stowandtellu.com

homemade-diy-trail-sign-Valentines-decor-craft-hwwp://www.stownadtellu.com

The way the wood slats turned pink from dying them with the red food coloring is probably my favorite part. The campy Valentine sayings just fit so perfectly, I couldn’t resist.

A smaller version could probably be made with wood shims and perhaps some stick-on letters.

You can see more Valentine ideas, here.

Thanks for the inspiration, Lisa!!

 

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Filed Under: Craft Projects, Holiday Ideas, Seasonal Tagged With: Camping and Glamping, Pallet wood, Valentine's

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Comments

  1. chris aka monkey says

    January 26, 2015 at 10:21 am

    this is so cute in a girly kinda way ha ha ya think love it xx

    Reply
  2. sharleen says

    January 27, 2015 at 12:14 am

    I LOVE this Amy, i tried to pin it to my pinterest. but its not working. I just saved to anyway. love it. well done.

    Reply
  3. sharleen says

    January 27, 2015 at 12:16 am

    I did manage to get it to pinterest after all.

    Reply
  4. Sherry says

    January 27, 2015 at 6:07 am

    So cute! And creative! I’m happy to hear my guys are not alone in their eye rolling and “what are you doing that for” comments.
    That’s why we have our blog friends! Great job Amy!

    Reply
  5. Tuula @ The Thrifty Rebel says

    January 27, 2015 at 6:50 am

    That is totally adorable Amy. I think Mt Cutie Pie is my favourite, but all the names are great. So sweet.

    Reply
  6. Feral Turtle says

    January 27, 2015 at 10:13 am

    This is so freakin cute Amy! Love the pinkness of your arrows. I think hubby would get lost if I made one…hehe

    Reply
  7. Danni@SiloHillFarm says

    January 30, 2015 at 6:32 am

    In a girly kind of way….LOL! I totally love this Amy! You’ve given me my first project for my backyard this summer! I’m intrigued by the paint mix and am looking forward to trying that because my milk paint experience was a disaster and I love the way that mix looks on the pallet boards. Also…that is a great tutorial for the signs on picmonkey! Thank you again!

    Reply
  8. Bliss says

    February 1, 2015 at 9:10 am

    It’s awesome and I’m pinning it. Although my mind did go a different “direction” with the directions!

    Reply
  9. Tammy says

    January 23, 2016 at 8:22 am

    So cute…love your sign..thank you for sharing at Share it One More Tieme

    Reply
  10. Marie, The Interior Frugalista says

    January 25, 2016 at 10:39 am

    That is really cute! I’m pinning to share on my wedding board and to show my daughter who is getting married in August. Her wedding is outdoors and I’m thinking our own version of this would be perfect.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 25, 2016 at 7:15 pm

      That’s so exciting that your daughter is getting married! A summer wedding is my favorite kind. I’m glad this project gave you a little inspiration and I’m looking forward to seeing your version if you make some. Good luck and enjoy the wedding planning, Marie!!

      Reply
  11. Julie says

    January 27, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    You can’t get any cuter!! Pinning to our Pinterst board and sharing on IG soon! XO

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 27, 2016 at 5:25 pm

      Thanks so much for all the shares, for stopping by and for hosting the party Julie!!

      Reply
  12. Audra @ Renewed Projects says

    January 26, 2018 at 10:16 pm

    Very cute idea! And excellent tutorial. Pinning.

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 28, 2018 at 6:05 am

      Thanks so much, Audra

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 30+ Farmhouse Valentine's Day DIY Decor Projects - A Hundred Affections says:
    January 31, 2018 at 8:18 pm

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