My older brother, the City Mouse, had a baby two months ago and I wanted to give him something that I made (along with some other gifts) because this would not be something in his realm. I decided to make him a “Baby Sleeping” sign for the nursery:

(I realized I forgot to paint the comma after I took the pics, so I added that after!)

And not wanting to miss a learning opportunity for his little one, I decided to utilize the back as well to say, “I am sleeping” in French, Traditional Chinese, German and Spanish. Why not start early!

You will need:

• A piece of wood 1″ x 8″, cut 10″ long
• Sandpaper
• Primer
• Acrylic craft paints
• A white pencil
• A small cup
• Spray enamel (optional, but it seals it and gives it a nice finish)
• A drill
• Ribbon
• A computer/printer
• A red ballpoint pen

Directions:

1. Cut the piece of wood 10″
2. Sand well (on both sides if you intend to write on both sides)
3. Prime entire thing
4. Using a Word document in the “landscape” paper layout, type out the words you want.
5. Highlight the words, justify them towards the center, and select the font and size you want. It should appear exactly on the paper as it will on the board. (Note: I used Jandy QuirkyGirl in 96 point for “Baby Sleeping”, and in 60 point for “(You wake him, you take him)”. If you want to make a backside, insert a page break and type your words on the second page.)
6. Print.
7. Paint board two coats of background color.
8. Once dry, find a cup or can (I used a small juice glass) that is the desired size of the polka dots you want.
9. Using the white pencil, trace the bottom of the cup where ever you want the polka dots.
   

   The juice glass I used is to the left

10. With white paint, fill in the white pencil lines. I did two coats to thoroughly fill in the dots.
11. Lightly tape your printed paper to the board, aligned where you want it.
12. Using a red ballpoint pen, trace the print, pressing firmly! Remove the paper.
13. With a small, thin brush, paint in the indentations. (TIP: This is harder than you think, especially if you have three large “lap” dogs that like to circle you and two nosy kids who “want to help” and I consider myself a pretty good painter. I finally resorted to using a brown Sharpie on the backside for some of the harder and smaller work. I wish I had thought of it sooner! So, keep that in your back pocket if you need it!!)
14. Drill two small holes at the top for the ribbon.
15. Thread the ribbon through the holes.
16. Optional, but pretty, fold the ribbon ends in half and cut from fold on up to a point to make “v”s.
17. To ensure that the ribbon does not fray over time, pass the ends over an open flame to seal them.
    
18. Figure how much ribbon (how low you want sign to hang) you will need coming out of the back to hang the sign and pull that amount through the back. (You may need to make knots over each drill hole with the ends so that they don’t pull out)Tie a pretty bow. OR, you can do what I did: I just tied a bow, then used a second piece of ribbon to make a bow on the other side (around the threaded ribbon) using the ends of that for the door hanger, so that I could have a bow on the door knob.

Cost of this project: $0, Yes $0!!!! I had everything on hand!

I hope you like this – and this will not be the last of the project: my girls now want name plaques for their doors, but I told them THAT will have to wait until after the holidays! I’m going to mix it up a bit to keep it interesting (for me and you), so if there is anything you all would like to see let me know Off the top of my head, I was thinking of jigsawing out a pretty shape (as opposed to just a plain rectangle) and maybe stripes?

Although, I know one reader who is in dire need of a baby sleeping sign and I may be able to squeeze in the time for her if she doesn’t get any sleep soon – it really DOES take a village! I hope you all have a great weekend