Scrap Wood Sign - Here Comes the Sun

Good Spring Morning!

I hope Easter found you surrounded by loved ones in some beautiful Spring weather?

We were lucky; while it was cloudy and threatening to rain, it held off until after our family left and we were able to enjoy an Easter lunch out on the patio.

Today’s project has been MONTHS in the making.

Okay, not in the “making”, but in the storing…

I’ve kept these scrap pieces of plywood since I made my Christmas tree sign waaaaaay back in November. I had visions of sunbeams and a Beatles tune stuck in my head that had me storing them until I could finally get around to seeing my vision to fruition.

Last week was the week!

I gathered up my bits and bobs and finally put my scrap wood sign together.

I traced a gallon can of paint onto a scrap piece of ply wood and cut out the partial circle with my jig saw.

I placed the circle in the corner of my ply wood backing and then laid out my triangles around it to figure out spacing and cuts needed for my sunbeams.

This was all a matter of laying one sunbeam over the other, tracing a line and then cutting it with the jig saw. I repeated on each sunbeam until I had the layout I liked. I chose to leave a bit of space between the sun and the rays on my scrap wood sign, but if you like a more ‘fitted’ look, go for it! (and send me photos)

Before adhering all the pieces to the plywood backing I sanded them down with 180 grit sandpaper and then painted each ray – top and sides.

The backing received a coat of stain – which I quickly removed and then sanded so as not to have too dark a finish.

Once everything was dry, I dry-fit the pieces to get my layout correct and then glued each piece in place with liquid nails.

I LOVE the dimension on this!

I was thinking of adding a 1×2 frame all the way around the scrap wood sign, but then decided it would take away from the impact of the sunbeams. Instead, I sanded any stain drips from the sides and then painted the edges in the same yellow as the sun.

The whole time I was making this, and every time I saw these scrap wood pieces all winter, I would hum “Here comes the sun, little darlin'” – because that’s what I wanted my scrap wood sign to read.

I used my Silhouette to cut out a stencil for my lettering, but if you have a steady hand you could just hand paint, or use a sharpie, to put your lyrics on.

I went with the Beatles, but you could write/paint out:

Walkin’ on sunshine
You are my sunshine
Aquarius/Let the sunshine in
Good day sunshine
You are the sunshine of my life
Sunshine on my shoulders
Steal my sunshine
Pocketful of sunshine just to name a few.

If you’re painting your scrap wood sign, I’d suggest starting with the yellow coat over your stencil first – this stops any bleeding of the other colours you paint later on.

Once dry, apply your alternate colour paint and remove your stencil while the paint is still wet.

My blue isn’t quite as loud as I was hoping, but I like to think the paler colour signifies ‘background vocals’ lol.

I’m not sure where I’m going to hang my little scrap wood sign as of yet, so I decided to put a coat of outdoor varathane over top of the entire thing to give me more options. If you’re hanging yours inside your house, you don’t need this extra step unless you want a bit of shine to your finished project.

I’m so pleased with how this turned out!

No new supplies purchased, leftover paint and scrap wood used up, and every time I pass it, it will bring a song to my heart!