DIY Nursery Art: BOYS WILL BE BOYS sign

Posted on November 10, 2015

boys will be boys sign - diy nursery word art - pegboard gallery wall - This is our Bliss

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Another kid-related post today. One of these days, I will be making the shift over to some holiday goodies! I seriously can’t wait to start bedazzling the house with Christmas sparkle and spreading holiday cheer!

But first, shame on me. After I shared Simon’s Nursery reveal and several other DIY nursery projects, I failed to post about one in particular. The one that so many of you have emailed me about.

The “BOYS WILL BE BOYS” sign on his pegboard gallery wall…

I am sorry! I never got around to posting about it mainly because I never took any pictures while I was making it. #badblogger Today, I will give you the bare bones tutorial on how I created it. Please forgive me, but this isn’t going to be one of my most detailed posts to-date!
While selecting the pieces that were going to make up the pegboard, I knew I wanted to use some word art because I love it so. I made this nursery word art piece and framed it, and had a few other frames already purchased, so just needed to figure out what was going to go in them.
I opted to frame up some fabric pieces that matched his bedding in my thrifted round plate holders…and had set aside another frame to put a picture in (I later went with the one of our hospital bracelets)…
I had recently finished up the mustache shadow box and bought the IKEA basket and rail, but I still needed something else…something bigger – a focal point. I didn’t want just another frame, so when I found a large, rectangular piece of white cardboard – an idea formed!

The cardboard was unique in that it sort of had a lip, which made it almost 3-D. I used my Silhouette Cameo to design “BOYS WILL BE BOYS” and once I had the sizing determined, I did a trial run with plain paper so I could check out spacing on the sign. After I had the size of the font where I wanted it, I had it cut the letters out on navy blue cardstock paper.
From there, I laid the letters out on the cardboard exactly how I wanted them to look. I started with the first “B” and applied a thin coat of modge podge to the back of the letter with a small craft foam brush and set it back down in its place. I continued through the rest of the letters until each one was pasted down to the cardboard. Next, I spread a thin coat over the letters and across the entire front of my new “sign”. I decided it needed a little something to give it a more finished look, so I took ribbon and applied a thin line of craft glue to the outer edge of the sign to secure it in place. The ribbon created a patterned frame.

That was it! When it came time to hang it on the pegboard, I placed 2 pegboard hooks on the pegboard evenly spaced apart, then held the sign up. Once I had the sign centered across the 2 hooks, I poked the hooks through the back of the sign (while still hooked to the pegboard) to ensure the holes were properly placed.

There you have it!
Since my directions are a little bit…well, sub-par, I have another option for you! I received several inquiries for a “Boys will be Boys” printable in my etsy shop, so I recently created one in a similar font to the sign on Simon’s pegboard – you can check it out here! (Please note: The gray brick is just a background and not part of the actual printable)

This instant download printable is formatted to be printed and cut down to an 8″x10″ or you can leave it as-is on the 8.5″x11″ paper. I recommend using cardstock paper to print and even taking the PDF file to your local copy or print shop. FedEx kinkos charges $1.50 for colored printing on white cardstock paper. Just a thought if you aren’t into this DIY idea with cardboard! Another great option would be to create a wood sign with a stencil or Silhouette Cameo or other die cutting tool, like a Cricut cutting machine.

Give it a shot! You might surprise yourself. I didn’t know what I was doing before I received my Cameo for Christmas, but after a some pinterest research browsing and reading up on the instruction manual, I figured it out! Add it to your wish list, you will love it!

If you have any questions at all, please leave me a note in the comments section below. Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you will come right on back here tomorrow! I am sharing the details on the 3 stacked frame gallery wall in our playroom!