Wedding Blog

Our wedding is WAY out in the middle of nowhere.  I mean, it might as well be on the moon.   The problem is if you Google or Mapquest directions to the site, they take you on a really unnecessarily difficult route to get there, so we’re directing our guests the easy, 3 turn way, which in the end, is a couple miles longer, yet gives people less of a chance to get lost than the Mapquest route.

I wanted to make some rustic looking signs pointing people in the right direction. Since the route that our guests are taking cuts through barns, pastures, and a couple of towns that have been frozen in time since the gold rush, I thought weathered looking signs would look nice and blend into the scenery nicely. Well, Home Depot doesn’t carry rustic wood. So using 3 ft pine steaks, pine planks, wood stain and white paint, we faked the weathered look.

We purchased some wood made for fencing, and had them cut at Home Depot. Mr. Penguin nailed the planks to 3 foot wood stakes.

Then, using a small can of dark wood stain, I applied one coat and let it dry.

When dry, if you only use one coat, the wood stain becomes uneven, perfect for a weathered look.

Then, paint. I used old paint that was lying around in my parents’ garage.

Admitedly, when we left Home Depot, I was a little annoyed at how much work I thought these were going to take, but we finished this project well under a couple of hours. The stain didnt take very long to dry before we were able to paint the white lettering on…maybe 30 mins or so.

I’ll put the signs out on Friday, so our rehearsal participants will be able to take advantage of the directions as well!All in all, a project that was well worth the time, since it was a quickie!

Cost breakdown per sign:

Wood stake - 50 cents
Wood fence plank, cut in 1/3 - $1.97
Wood Stain - $3.50 (one small can can paint around 10 signs similar to the ones I made)
Nails and Paint - laying around
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Total: $5.97