How to Make a "Be Creative" Pallet Sign

I'm about 90% of the way done with getting my home office / studio / craft room put together. If you'll recall from the "Great Big Before" tour the room looked like this:

And now (at least the wall by my desk) looks like this:

SO MUCH better! I removed the wallpaper border, painted the walls with my favorite zero-VOC paint from Colorhouse in the Bisque.02 color and got my desk put together. I'm planning on writing more about how I put my office together later - for now I want to teach you about my awesome sign.

It was inspired by a set of printables available form The Girl Creative and turned my vision into something more 3-D and more farmhousey. I love it above my desk! 

Here's how to make it:

Supplies

• 30" x 11.5" white pallet board
• 4" tall paper mache letters (the 'b' is 4" tall, the 'e' is 2.5" for reference)
• Cursive chipboard letters
• Martha Stewart Craft Paint in:
• Wedding Cake (white)
• Amaranth (pink)
• Habeñero (red)
• Marmalade (orange)
• Chamomile (yellow)
• Pea Shoot (green)
• Beach Glass (blue/green)
• Pond (blue)
• Purple Yam (purple)
• Gold metallic 
• Paint brushes
• Push Pins
• Yard stick
• High temp hot glue gun (this is the gun I use)
• Professional strength hot glue

Some of the links in my supply lists may be affiliate links. All of my supplies except the Martha Stewart Paint and Hot Glue Gun came from Craft Warehouse, a local craft chain in the Pacific Northwest.


Directions

Step 1: Prep

Cover your work surface and insert 3 (or more as needed) push pins into the back of the paper mache letters. This will keep the letters elevated off your surface in order to dry without sticking.

(disregard that this letter is clearly already painted - it didn't occur to me to photograph this step until after painting!)

Step 2: Paint

In order the help the colors show the brightest, I first painted the letters with white paint to provide a nice base for the colors to stick to.

Once the white paint is dry, I painted each letter in a different color in a rainbow-ish order:

C-pink / R-red / E-orange / A-yellow / T-green / I- teal / V-blue / E-purple. While the big letters were drying, I also painted the chipboard letters with the metallic gold paint.

Once everything was dry, I added a second coat of color to all the letters

Step 3: Glue

To help keep the letters evenly spaced, I laid a yard stick across the bottom of the pallet to pre-space the letters.

I kept the yard stick there while working (it also helped make sure that the base line for the letters stayed the same) and use hot glue to hold them down. I should point out that you should only use hot glue if your hot glue gun gets VERY HOT and you use professional strength hot glue. If you don't have those 2 things, use a wet adhesive like E-6000. This is not a "green" adhesive but it will hold excellently.

Step 4: Hang

Once it was set, all I had to do was hang it on the wall! I love how it coordinates with all the bright accessories in my office.

About the Author: 

Carissa is a lifelong crafter and DIY enthusiast. A green lifestyle expert, she often incorporates recycled elements into her designs and chooses non-toxic supplies whenever possible. She believes that living a greener lifestyle doesn't have to be drab and boring but can beautiful, tasty and fun!
Follow her on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or join the Creative Green Living community group on Facebook.

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