Make a Rustic Valentine Sign

Hi Friends!

How was your weekend? We were busy, but I did manage to cross some things off of my to-do list -- yay! We made progress on the kitchen island, and I even finished making a rustic Valentine sign for the family room. I don't do a lot of decorating for Valentine's Day, but I wanted something to replace the Believe sign I that I made for Christmas. And, since I like how it turned out, I wanted to share it with you!

rustic wooden xo xo valentines day sign with chalk paint

When I think of Valentine's Day, I envision soft pastels rather than dark reds. So, I decided to use a very soft pink shade as the base color. I also love the shabby chic look, but since it's kind of hard to maintain with a house full of kids, I tend to decorate with more of a rustic vibe, but I like to think that this sign is a combination of the two styles.

I started out with an old 1 x 6 wood board from my stash and gave it a very quick sanding to make sure there weren't any splinters. Then, I gave it a rough coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Antoinette. I bought a small jar a couple of months ago, and I couldn't wait to try it out. I'm planning to use the color on a table I'm redoing, but I thought it would be perfect for this sign.

My little Diva suggested writing XO XO XO on the front of the sign, so I used some cardboard letters as a guide and traced around them with a pencil -- easy, peasy!

trace around cardboard letters with a pencil

Then, all I had to do was fill in the outlines with some white paint. The kids wanted to help paint, and I was more than happy to let them! I figured that since I would be distressing the sign anyway, it would be easy to sand off any mistakes.

Actually, they did an awesome job, and all I had to do was erase the pencil marks.

Next, I lightly distressed the paint with sand paper -- mostly around the edges, but I thought that the sign needed just a little more definition to make the letters pop. So, I used a dry brush to add some burnt umber craft paint around the edges and in some of the crevices.

rustic shabby chic wood xo xo sign for valentine's day painted with annie sloan chalk paint

That's all there was to it! Technically, the shade is pink, but it doesn't really look pink at all in the house. It's more of a peachy-tan shade, which goes perfectly with the tan walls.

pink and white valentines day sign with xo xo and annie sloan paint

I added some picture wire on the back so that I could hang the sign up, but it would also look nice on the porch.

I'm working on the mantel decor now, and I can't wait to show it off. Do you decorate for Valentine's Day, or are you all about chocolate and flowers?

Thanks for stopping by -- Enjoy your day!