I love my friends. I don’t get to see them as much anymore, now that we are all crazy running around to work or with kids or all the other stuff that comes with being an adult, but we do try to get together at least once a month for book club – and sometimes to try a new thing! In the past we have gone to those paint and sip nights, where  everyone paints the same picture and drinks wine, and have had a blast – although we have ended up with paintings that don’t always match our decor (like the giant peacock that I have). Not that it matters that much, it’s all about the fun!

Well, my neighbor is super crafty and talented, and runs a business for a DIY wooden sign making. In fact, I can hear her outside cutting all the boards right now for an upcoming show. So after a flurry of emails between all of us, we managed to coordinate our schedules to have a night of sign making (and drinking).

I have to admit, I had some anxiety over this activity! Lol. We were having it at my friend’s immaculate house that looks like a magazine, and I kept thinking oh lord, what if the paint spills? I wanted to go crazy tarping off her whole house. That was unnecessary however – the whole process is very tidy and neat – at least the way Heather does it. In fact everything was so organized and efficient that we had the easiest time making them! All we had to do was follow the directions, drink our wine, eat our snacks, and have a good time. Which we did!

It was quite simple the way Heather did it – everyone’s signs were precut, the wood and the stencils. She set out our materials in front of us and led us through it step by step. We could choose our color palette from a huge array of colors, and kind of play around if we chose as well. My friend Kelly mixed two colors for her background to come up with a cool spooky gray (she made her sign for Halloween decorating) and Chrissy played around with colors to make a fun color for her moon sign too. We painted and sanded and peeled, and picked the little plastic out from the letters, which while tedious I strangely enjoyed, talking and eating and laughing the whole time, peeking at each other’s creations. And then we were done! Everyone did a great job I think, and we had quite a variety! From Kelly’s “Ill Behaved Children Will Be Baked Into Pies” to Chrissy’s phases of the moon, to Mary’s “As For Me and My House, We Will Serve Tacos”, to Jill’s family monogram that will go up in their new house, to my acorn and nature sign, I think they were all quite individual and unique, just like us!

Here is my sign, all finished. It is not hanging yet, I can’t quite decide if I want it in Wyatt’s room or above his play table, which will soon be moved to my office. So for now I move it about. The acorn is kind of our family talisman – it stands for many things, but mainly because my little guy is such a tiny guy. I was a small kid too, and my grandma always used to say “From tiny acorns grow mighty oaks”. She herself was a tiny firecracker of a lady, so it was very appropriate. And I usually do have an acorn in my pocket – in fact, they are stashed all over my house, squirrel like I guess.

We had a blast – and I am looking forward to our next thing, whatever that may be!