23 Mar 2018 Funky Frugal: Sign from the heart

Posted at 3:08 PMh in Food & Home Entertaining, Home by

I have a friend in Hot Springs who has reached out to me in good and bad times since we moved here five years ago. Heather Meseke is a wife, mom, teacher and friend. She invited our little family over when we first moved to Garland County. My husband and I looked at each other when we left and decided we could be their neighbors! So we bought a lot near their house!

Heather is a friend who deeply cares, and this year she showed her affection for others by making homemade signs for her friends. I loved my sign made from pallet wood so much that I asked her to share a few tips with 501 readers!

A little bit about yourself? I am a wife to Chris (coach’s wife at that), and mama to Cayden (7) and Carsyn (4). I love Jesus with all my heart and believe that with God all things are possible.

How do you find time to craft while being a busy mama? I do 99 percent of my crafting during nap time or after bedtime when my littles are asleep. The other 1 percent of the time, I have A LOT of help!

How did you come up with the sign concept? We had a big, open wall in our home that I wanted to decorate with something rustic and personalized, yet simple and meaningful. That’s when I had the idea to create something with our monogram and the year we were married.

How did you make them? The actual sign structures are made from taking pallets apart and sanding and cutting the wood to size, then creating a structure to attach the planks to. That is the hard part — or at least the most time-consuming. It is ALL done by two amazing guys in my life, my husband and my father-in-law. I just sketch the layout of how I want the wood with details (size dimensions, whether straight stacked or staggered planks, etc.), and these two make it happen. Then I first draw the design with chalk and then go over it with several coats of paint (the raw wood soaks up a lot of the paint, so it usually takes several coats).

How/where do you hang them? We attach two hooks to each sign for optimal hanging because the larger signs can be rather heavy. I have placed them above my kitchen sink window (my “Meseke market” sign), above a buffet in a dining room, on the fireplace mantle and above the headboard in a master bedroom. They are actually versatile and can go just about anywhere according to the size and space you have to fill.

How long does a single sign take? It usually takes me about an hour to design, chalk and paint each sign (depending on size and whether I paint on natural wood or paint the sign a white base before painting the design). Then, it doesn’t take very long to paint the additional coats or layers and shading over the original. The most time-consuming part is constructing the signs from the pallet wood, and my husband and his dad usually make an afternoon of it and make me several at once.

What is the average cost of a sign? It depends. If you have pallets and tools to construct signs, you can make them relatively inexpensively. It would be the cost of your paint, brushes, chalk and mounting hardware — and then your time! Otherwise, I would recommend looking for cheap pallets and buying in bulk.

Tips for making signs for Easter or Mother’s Day? I love cross decor, so I think a cross themed wood sign would be beautiful and could be displayed year-round. I think a fun Mother’s Day design would be “Mama since ____” with the year you became a mama and then to incorporate some floral accents with your little one(s)’ handprints and painted name(s). One year, my babies made me a Mother’s Day sign with painted flower pots and stems, and then each of their handprints were placed as the flower. It said “Mother’s Day” and the year and had their names under their flower pot base. To this day, it is one of my most cherished gifts. If you are sentimental like me, these personalized signs will be a favorite in your home, too!

Tanner Cangelosi
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