DIY Wedding Sign

This is yet another idea that I got after looking at pictures online. I plan on hanging my sign outside of the fort somewhere so that guests know they have arrived at the right place. The point is that the sign is supposed to look like a random piece of wood that washed up on the beach that I recycled into a wedding sign. I just liked the look and I think it adds the rustic flair that I'm going for.

I didn't have any weathered boards on hand, so I decided to make my own. I find that "aging" wood can be a real stress reliever. I started with a plain board that I found and beat the crap out of it with a rock. I also dropped the board on a cement floor a couple of times, and banged the corners for good measure. Then I painted the whole thing bright purple, it was at this point that my dog walked across the board and left a footprint. It was her little addition to the artwork, unfortunately it didn't show through all the layers of paint. Once the purple was dry, I added a coat of crackle medium. I have found that the thicker the crackle medium, the better the crackles. I wanted my board to look old and neglected, so I just slapped it on and let it dry over night. The next morning, I put on a layer of ivory paint, which subsequently crackled showing some of the purple through. Voila, weathered board, that happens to be in my wedding colors... imagine that. I gave the board a couple hours to dry, and then I varnished the whole thing with a satin brush on varnish. I wanted to put something between the crackle medium and my lettering so that the letters didn't crackle. Finally, with green paint, I painted out my lettering. Again, I let everything dry for a couple hours and added another coat of varnish to seal it off. I hot glued some ribbon on the back to make it a bit easier to hang. Now that my first sign is made, I think I am going to make a couple more to point out parking areas, restrooms, the guestbook table, etc. like I said, "aging" wood is fun. My sister made the suggestion that I use driftwood for the next sign, which would imply a trip to the beach... totally think I can handle that!