6.20.2012

Shop numbers

I am a very visual person and have kept pinboards in various fashions since I was in middle school so last summer when Pinterest, an online pinboard, popped up I immediately jumped on the bandwagon. I started building boards for my various interests and bookmarking projects that I might want to do later. When we began talking about ideas for the shop remodel, I created the ReBelle deux pinboard to keep track of the things we want to do and those that we might do. There are so many details that go into building a creative business and it can be hard to keep everything straight, Pinterest has really helped keep me organized and better than that it has helped to keep me motivated.

The new shop building came with 2" house numbers and while I am not totally familiar with local codes, I am pretty sure those are too small. Sarah and I discussed running to the hardware store and picking up some new house numbers, but we wanted to do something more visually interesting though we had no idea what. I started looking at house numbers on etsy and other sites and I pinned the ones I liked. When I came across an image of house numbers made of string art I knew we had a winner, afterall we are a yarn shop- string is our specialty.

The before and the after.

I am not going to provide a tutorial because Amanda at Our Humble Abowed does an excellent job. I will, however, give you a few tips to make things a bit easier. First, the tutorial says to use MDF board, but if you are going to put these numbers outside you will be much better off using a plywood or other wood rated for outdoor use. Even with a coating of paint, the MDF board will start breaking down with exposure to rain and cold. I used single-sided MDO plywood that we had leftover from our shop sign. It is an excellent choice for this project if you can find a sign shop that will sell you a small peice. My second tip is that if you have access to a drill, go ahead and drill pilot holes where your nails are going to go, it really cuts down on the time spent hammering plus it makes it easier to keep the nails straight. Lastly, this poject will take at least twice as long as you think it will so go ahead and plan to spend your entire evening on it.

1 comment:

affectioknit said...

I love those numbers - what a great idea!

~Have a lovely day!