If you’re getting ready to send your kids back to school this cute sign is perfect for that first-day photo op! Turn the sign around and it also doubles as the last day of school sign too. With the adorable little chalkboard addition, you can use it year after year as you watch your children grow. The Walnut Hollow Rectangle Framed sign is perfect for the project. You can use both sides of the sign, so there is no need to make two different signs for the first day and the last day of school. Print out the free tracing guide included in this tutorial to make easy.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Walnut Hollow Rectangle Framed Sign
- Walnut Hollow Rectangle Mini Thin Plaque
- First Day/Last Day of school and school images printable tracing guides
- Acrylic Paints
- Chalkboard Paint
- Graphite Transfer Paper
- Paint Brushes
- Masking Tape
- Chalk
Step one:
Download and Print out the tracing guides. You can get the First Day, Last Day, and School Image Set by clicking those links here. Place the graphite transfer paper onto your rectangle framed sign. Add the Tracing printables over them, and secure them in place with some removable masking tape. Using a pen or pencil, trace the outline of the design.
Step two:
Paint the design onto the framed sign. I used acrylic paint in bright primary and secondary colors for my sign. You can easily customize it to any color scheme you want!
Use the School image set to add the additional details on the bottom of the sign, and paint those too.
Paint the Rectangle Mini Thin Plaque with chalkboard paint and allow to cure following the directions on your brand of paint.
Allow all of the paint to dry fully. Flip the sign over and use the Last Day of school tracing image to do that side.
Step Three:
Use chalk to write in the grade level on the Rectangle Mini Thin Plaque. You can move it from one side of the sign to the other and secure with tape or a removable adhesive strip.
And now you have two signs in one! On the First Day of School side, it says “I am in ___ Grade”
And on the Last Day of School side it says “Done with ____ Grade”
Right now with my tiny little first grader, the sign looks so large!
I’m excited to see it “shrink” as she grows each year!
Do you take first day/last day of school pictures each year? When does school start where you live? We have two more weeks of summer left! Pop on over to the website and grab your Rectangle Framed sign! There’s still plenty of time to get this cute sign done before school starts!
Check out more fun DIY signs here
After studying Culinary Arts in Portland Oregon, Kelli went back home to the sunny South West where she decided she wanted to do different kinds of Art. This busy mom of three spends all of her available free time creating in her Craft Shack “she shed” where she can be found burning wood, repurposing old stuff, crafting, and painting just about anything she can get her hands on.