Counting Down...

I love counting down toward an important event/holiday/etc. Now that I have a kid that knows his numbers, I thought a universal countdown sign would be fun to have hanging in our house. I have gone through about 3 different versions of this sign and think I have finally made it the way I like it. I have a feeling that my husband is tired of me asking him to sand the sign so I can start from scratch every time!

It was so simple. We had a piece of scrap MDF in the garage that I asked my sweet husband to cut down to a certain size for me. I painted it with chalkboard paint so I can easily change out the "days" and the "event" we are focusing on at the time.

This was my first version. I thought it would be a good idea to use pre cut letters for the "days until." I hot glued them down to the board (not realizing they were actually stickers with a backing on them). The stickers began to peel away from their backing leaving a less than desirable effect. Thus, the first re-sanding project to get all the remaining hot glue off the board.

Second version. I don't have any better shots of this somehow. I basically freehanded the "days until" on this sign. I didn't make the letters big enough for the sign and I thought the painting was a bit sloppy. It lasted through the Christmas holiday sitting on my mantle (every day wishing I had done it a little differently). Thus, the second re-sanding project to begin so I could start from scratch in 2013.

Third (and hopefully final) attempt. For Christmas, I got a Silhouette. I've enjoyed playing around with it so far. I haven't had a chance to explore all the awesome possibilities yet. I cut a simple stencil for my "days until" script this time. I used a chalk marker to write the words on my sign. I'm pleased with the way this one has turned out. No re-sanding needed :-)

 After I got it the way I wanted, my husband installed the hardware on the back and it is now hanging on our wall in the eat-in kitchen nook. I love the way it looks and am excited to count down special dates in our family (most of all a vacation coming up in a few months!).