Valentine’s Day Sign with Lights

Happy Valentine’s Day! I wasn’t originally planning to make more Valentine’s Day decor this year, but sometimes inspiration strikes when you least expect it. I was organizing my scrap lumber pile last week, and came across this piece of cedar 1×8. The knot hole was shaped like a heart, and was obviously trying to tell me that it should become a Valentine’s Day sign!

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With only a few days to go until V-Day, I scrambled to come up with an idea that would utilize the heart-shaped hole best. I managed to snag the last package of heart shaped LED lights from Target (you can find similar ones on Amazon). Can you see where I’m going with this yet?

After sanding down the board, I experimented with a few different stains I had lying around. I wanted to tone down the orange color of the cedar board without removing all the grain. In the end, this sample of Behr’s Stonehedge outdoor stain worked best to neutralize the tone.

Next, I dry brushed a little light gray paint on the board. Once it was dry, I sanded down the edges a bit to give it a weathered look.

Since it was so close to Valentine’s Day, all the stores were out of every stencil relating to love and hearts. Instead, I printed the words “Je t’aime” (“I love you” in French) using the Marcelle Script font, and taped the paper onto the board. Then, I traced the outline of the letters using a ballpoint pen to create an indentation in the wood.

Using a small artist brush, I filled in the letters with bright pink craft paint. It helps to have a light shining on the surface from the side to illuminate the indentations.

One little heart shaped hole, even if it’s natural, didn’t have a huge impact. I created a scattering of additional hearts with a drill bit and a chisel. First I drilled two holes right next to each other for the top.

Then I used a 1/4″ chisel to cut the point for the bottom and clear away the middle.

Sanding twigs made it easy to file down any rough edges and clean up the sides. I had a bit of tear-out from the drill, but a little touch up of the light gray paint hid it easily!

I painted the inside of the holes with the same bright pink paint as the lettering for an extra pop of color. Then I inserted the heart lights into each hole. To hold the lights in place, I stapled the wire to the back of the board.

Voila!

I just love when a spark of an idea becomes reality! Too bad I didn’t discover the board earlier, because it’s already time to pack it away until next year. But I’m looking forward to displaying my Valentine’s Day sign for many holidays to come!

Like this Valentine’s Day decor idea? Check out another I created here!

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