Are you ready to hit the beach? Our regular contributor, Michelle James, has a fantastic DIY project to set a beachy tone in your home.

Wooden Beach Marquee Sign

A Beachy DIY Project for Your Home

Wow! I can’t believe that March is over and spring has sprung. Well…it’s going to spring here in Iowa soon, I hope. This weather is why my friend Maureen loves the beach so much. Well, who doesn’t? She decorates in a beach theme all year except for Christmas and St. Pat’s. I love her house. We created this Beach Inspired Sofa Table for her home, and it turned out so cute.

This was a little surprise I created for her to add to her beach décor.

Surprise someone with this #DIY Wooden Beach Marquee Sign! #HomeDecor #Sign #Beach

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Wooden Beach Marquee Sign

I don’t have a complete tutorial, but I think it is enough for you to create one if you like. I have been offering these types of signs in my classes, and people really seem to enjoy them. I love the glow of lights in the house in the evening, and these types of signs don’t disappoint.

I started with a plain wood sign made from lath and 1×2. My husband puts these together for me.

Then, we water down some latex paint to create a paint we can roll on, but almost has the consistency of stain. We were staining them, but rolling the paint looks better and is a much faster process when you have to make large quantities at a time.

One of the pictures below is the stained version we used to make.

I cut out the BEACH letters on my Silhouette. I am getting pretty good at finding a font, then making the letters exactly the size I want for the board. I cut them out of cardstock, then trace around them with chalk. This was the sign we made for Valentine’s Day, but it shows the chalk traced letters. I use chalk because it is easy to see on the brown background, and it comes off easily when we sand later.

Then, using acrylic paint, paint in the letters and any other design you want.

After it is painted and dried, I use a sanding block and give it a good sanding. This gets the extra chalk off the wood, and it gives it a nice rustic, distressed look. I love that!

Then, I mark the spots where I want holes drilled.

This is the painted BEACH sign with the pencil marks for the holes. We are using strings with 35 lights, so I double and triple count to make sure I have exactly 35 marks for holes.

Then working from the back, you push the lights through the wood and work your way up and down the sign, until all of the lights and all of the holes have been filled.