Perfect for Beach Dwellers (or Pool Owners)

Lauraleedaydreams
by Lauraleedaydreams
6 Materials
$5
4 Hours
Easy

Beach life and beach towels go together. Hopefully this project will inspire you to build something similar for your home.

Yard sale find.

Abby is checking out the supplies. I’m using a piece of scrap lumber and a yard sale find. I only paid about two dollars for the hanger. The hooks alone would cost more. You can use any piece of wood and buy hooks from your local hardware store. Now we are ready to make some magic happen.

Beachy stripes
Gather supplies.


You really don’t need many supplies for this project. Paint, painters tape, and hooks. Grey and white stripes are great for a beachy look. I measured the board before putting on the painters tape. I start in the middle so both ends will end up the same.

Paint
But first apply a base coat


First I removed the hooks. Then I painted both pieces with a white base coat. The yard sale piece needed a second coat. After I painted the grey color on the larger piece I carefully removed the painters tape. I left a white edge around the smaller piece and only painted the center grey. (You’ll see what I mean in another picture)

Looking good so far?

Not really...

Close up.
Cleaning the edges


I really like clean crisp edges. In a few places the grey paint seeped under the painters tape. So I use a large needle to scrape it off. You can use white paint but I find this technique to be quicker and easier.

Close up.

See how much nicer?

Sand block
Sand down the piece.


When you use painters tape I always seem to have and un-smooth surface. So I like to lightly sand it with a fine sandpaper block.

Love my cutting machine
Use a stencil for lettering.


There’s many ways to letter a project. I like to use my silhouette cutting machine to make a stencil. The words “beach towels” needs to be on one line. The extra “T” is so I can line up both pieces and get the correct spacing. Neat huh!

Placing the stencil
Line everything up.


The grey paint on the wood piece with the hooks has a distressed look. (this is the picture where you can see how I left the white around the edges) I think the white hooks really pop on this project. I temporarily placed the piece with the hooks on the larger board to make sure that I place the stencil correctly.

Tip
Stick the stencil on.


Once I figure out where the stencil belongs I put a piece of painters tape in the center to keep it in position. Then I start near where the tape is and peel off a piece of the backing little by little. This is so much easier than peeling off the entire back of the stencil at once.

Close look.

Here’s a closer look at how I do this.

Tip.
Placing the tiny center stencil pieces.


With stencils you always have to remember to stick on the center pieces of letters like O and A. I use the large needle to help place it in the right spot. So much easier than using my fingers.

Another tip.
Do you have a tennis ball?


The tennis ball helps me make sure that all the edges of the stencil are pressed down solidly. (I should have done this on the painters tape to stop the paint from seeping underneath the tape).

Paint paint paint.
Use a paper plate and sponge brushes.


I had two slightly different dark navy blues. So I tested them on a paper plate to see which I liked the best. Make sure you offload paint onto the paper plate before putting paint on your stencil. Less is best when stenciling!! Just be prepared to do two or three coats for full coverage. (Less coats will give you a distressed look.)

Close-up look.

Close-up look of the multiple coats. After everything was painted I used matte finish Mod Podge to seal the entire project.

Hanging hooks.
Final steps.


Now that everything is painted and ready to go the last step is to screw the smaller piece onto the larger one. Then add hanging hooks on the back.

Close up of finished project.

Ready to hang up beach towels.

TaDa!

Perfect to hang up on a porch or next to your outdoor shower.

Ready to deliver to a beach decor consignment shop on the island. Hopefully someone will like it enough to take it home!

Resources for this project:
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