Vinyl Simplify Board Tutorial

Such a great word.

This word has been tagging along, right behind my New Years resolution of, "Balance" this year.

They really go hand in hand.

To me... you can't HAVE balance without a little "simplification" in your life... am I wrong?

I felt the need to display this great word in my house to remind me daily, that I need to try to

"Live Simple" in ALL aspects of my life.

Or at least stop making things so dang complicated and stressful! lol

When it comes to my home, blogging, family... the small and simple things,

to me, are what really end up mattering the most!

So here is a quick little tutorial on how I made my board.

I started off with an unfinished piece of wood with the below measurements.

The sides were sanded at a bit of an angle, to give the board some dimension,

but you don't have to do that. 

Then I just used some leftover paint from my pantry project a while back that I had, called Flagstone from Olympic.

I painted the board with a couple coats of that, let it dry completely, sanded the edges to expose the wood, and then used my distress ink to darken the edges a bit.

Then I took my vinyl, centered it, taped it down on the top, to create a hinge, for easy application, removed the backing paper, smoothed down the decal and sticky transfer tape onto the board from the center out, and then removed the transfer tape to reveal the word!

After that was done, I also added a picture hanger to the back.

Then I went out, in the FA-REEEZING weather,

to give my board a finishing spray...

:)

with some Americana Sealer/Finisher gloss.

this step is optional, but it does help protect the board  a bit,

and give it a nice finished look, especially if you're using a flat paint, like I did.

 

And you're done!

I actually am hanging mine here, above my pantry in the kitchen.

It may sound kind of funny, but I feel like our pantry (yes, STILL without a door! lol) is kind of a reminder to how nice things can STAY if they are simplified and organized!

I know that lots of other bloggers have talked about a specific phrase or word that they are using to

"round out" their new 2011 year... do you have one!?