Hey Decocrators! It’s me again, Becca of www.drivingmissmacey.com! I’m here to share another suuuuuper simple DIY with you - my favorite! This year's summer box was full of pieces perfect for DIYing. The piece that I knew immediately I wanted to try customizing was the “live simply” woodblock sign. I love love love this piece but I had been looking for something of a similar size for my kid's bedroom! I love the message of living simply, but it didn’t quite fit in my kid's room. So I grabbed my trusty hot glue gun and got to work! If you’ve come along for any of my other DIYs you know I love a hot glue gun! Between that and some paint, we are going to totally transform this sign into something completely custom, so exciting! Follow along for a tutorial on how to DIY this wooden art block.

Here’s what you’ll need: 

1. Decocrated “live simply” sign

2. Hot glue gun

3. Paint colors of your choice (I used acrylic)

4. Painters tape/Masking tape

5. Paintbrush

Once you have all your supplies gathered and have decided which colors you want to use, get that hot glue gun plugged in, and let’s get to work! 

You’ll want to start by taping off the mainframe with painter's tape or masking tape. In this case, I plan to keep the dark wood border so I want to protect that. 

Now, this glue/paint process can be done one of two ways. You can paint the background first and then apply your glue gun design, or you can apply your glue gun design and paint over it! Here’s why I chose to do the hot glue first. If I mess up (which I usually do at least once or twice) I can let the glue dry and pop it off to start fresh. If you paint first and then mess up your glue design, you may take off the paint. Both ways work great - just wanted to explain why I started with the glue! 

One other thing to note, if you don’t have a glue gun you can still get the same effect by using thicker paint (like acrylic) and then using a toothpick or the backside of your paintbrush to draw a design in your wet paint. The possibilities are endless! 

Okay okay, so your glue gun is hot - let’s get started! I knew for my kid's room I wanted to have a mini rainbow sign (I’ve been looking for something for a while) so that’s what I’m going to design with the hot glue. Take your time here. There will be a lot of glue strings and you may need to stop and let things dry before continuing. Finish whatever design you're hoping to achieve and then let the glue dry completely. 

Once your glue is dry, it’s time to paint over your design! I had plans to paint with white and blue, I got going and wasn’t loving it. The great thing about acrylic paint is that you can wipe it off with a damp cloth if you don’t like it! I decided I was just going to paint over the grey “live simply” part of the sign and leave the grey-lined border! I used the paint color “steal” and loved the way it looked with the original border! It took three coats (plus some touch-ups) but I am in love with the finished product! 

I decided to add it to the hanging frame in my kid's room, what a perfect spot, right!? :) 

How will you use your “live simply” sign? DIY or keep us as-is? I love both! 

xoxo, 

Becca

About the Author

Becca is in her early 30’s and lives just outside Seattle with her husband, whom she met on Tinder (crazy right!?), and her two kids Macey and Harrison. Life is pretty full with two young kids but in her “free time” Becca loves a good mani-pedi, a hike with her family in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, or a day-date to bubble tea with her daughter. You can find her on Instagram here: www.Instagram.com/drivingmissmacey or her blog: www.drivingmissmacey.com.