How to Design a Wood “LOVE” and “HOME” sign without any special programs or tools.

I thought I would share with you the process I went through to create these “LOVE” and “HOME” farmhouse signs.

I find great joy in trying to figure out how someone created something. It could just be my engineering mindset or curiosity. I then love sharing the things I make and pass on all the things I learned onto you. I was at the local summer festival this year walking by all the booths when I came to this one booth that caught my eye. It had all these beautiful wood signs. I snapped a photo to help me remember that I theses were something I wanted to try to make. I did not catch the name of this shop, if I find it I will pass it on to you. This little shop inspired me to try and create these wood signs and now I hope I am inspiring you to create beautiful things too.

For everything I make I create a design/plan for. Inspiration is all around me. Whether I be walking around festivals or looking at things on Pinterest. Whenever I see something that catches my eye and excites me I save it, then try to figure out how it was created. From the picture above the large pallet “LOVE” and “HOME” signs were the things I wanted to figure out how to make.

I knew that the part of the sign that I could not make and was not able to change was the size and shape of the metal flowers and hearts in the “O” spot of each word. I went on the hunt for metal flowers and metal hearts. As I googled metal flowers I am looking at price and size. I wanted to see how big of a metal flower I could get for around $10. My goal is to make about 12 different signs to give away as prizes at the next bunco party that I will be hosting.

I found these beautiful 4 x 4-inch metal flowers on amazon for about $3.50 each. Which is GREAT for making small signs!

I still wanted something bigger but for a great price. The best I could find was these metal flowers on Amazon for $12.00+, except the daisies were around $8. Most of the ones I liked are above the budget I set for this project which was around $10 per sign. If you are wondering why I picked $10, it’s because I am hoping to make these signs in time for prizes in the next bunco group that I host. Each person contributes $10/month to participate which helps cover the cost of food and prizes. Even though some of the flowers are way above budget I think with the savings from the small metal flowers I can splurge a bit on the bigger signs. (You can click on each of the flowers below to be linked to Amazon)

I also found this good looking metal heart on Etsy. I think it would work great on the large and small wood signs. Each heart is about 6 ½ tall and 6 ¼ wide.  

Now that I have an idea of my flower and heart options I can start working on the size of all the wood pieces needed. To do this I printed out a few pieces of gridded paper. I found a free download here, no email address needed or anything. I like to use 1/4-inch or the 1/8-inch grids.

As you can see from the pictures below I made lots of mistakes. Make sure you use a pencil and have a large eraser nearby. I made each square equal to 1/2-inch. I started with the flower size and worked my way out with each of the letters. Eventually, my measurements started to look good and gave me an idea of the size of the signs I was going to be making and I was able to create my cut list.

I also wanted to try and make a small sign using the 4 x 4-inch metal flowers to see how they would look. I decided to play around with some paper. I had some paper flowers laying around from a different project I tried years ago. I think the layout and size is pretty good. I give the Cut list for the small “LOVE” sign down below.

Wood Cut List for Large “LOVE” Sign:

Letter L: ¾ x 3 x 10-inch

     ¾ x 3 x 5-inch

Letter O: 10 x 10-inch Flower or metal heart

Letter V: ¾ x 3 x 10-inch

¾ x 3 x 10-inch

Letter E: ¾ x 3 x 10-icnh

¾ x 3 x 5-inch

¾ x 3 x 5-inch

¾ x 3 x 5-inch

In the photo below, you can see that I laid out all the pieces. Since I have not ordered the flowers yet, I used a 10-inch dinner plate as a substitute. This gives me a good idea of how big the finished sign will be, and it will help me size the back pallet that I will be making next. It looks like the finished length will be around 32-inches.

Wood Cut List for Small “LOVE” Sign:

Letter L: ¾ x 1 ½ x 7-inch

     ¾ x 1 ½ x 2 ½ -inch

Letter O: 4 x 4-inch Flower or metal heart

Letter V: ¾ x 1 ½ x 7-inch

¾ x 1 ½ x 6.5-inch

*I cut the right side of the “V” at a 39-degree angle. From the top of the right leg to the bottom was about 6.5-inches long at the longest point.

Letter E: ¾ x 1 ½ x 7-inch

¾ x 1 ½ x 2 ½ -inch

¾ x 1 ½ x 2 ½ -inch

¾ x 1 ½ x 2 ½ -inch

Large “HOME” Sign Cut List:

Letter H: ¾ x 3 x 10-inch

     ¾ x 3 x 5-inch

Letter O: 10 x 10-inch Flower or Metal Heart

Letter M: ¾ x 3 x 10-inch

¾ x 3 x 10-inch

¾ x 3 x 5 3/4-inch (5.75 is the longest length with a 45-degree angle)

¾ x 3 x 5 3/4-inch (5.75 is the longest length with a 45-degree angle)

Letter E: ¾ x 3 x 10-inch

¾ x 3 x 5-inch

¾ x 3 x 5-inch

¾ x 3 x 5-inch

Now that have my design and layouts. It’s time to have fun playing with color. Click here to read more about the “HOME” sign tutorial.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial! You are welcome to Like, Share, Comment! Be sure to follow Crafty Oils on Facebook and Subscribe to my YouTube Channel.

Thank you and happy crafting!

Jessica

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