DIY Sign for the First Day of School Each Year

by Pinspired to DIY

My daughter started Kindergarten today (I seriously don’t know how THAT happened, it seems like the time between her birth and starting school passed in the blink of an eye). Dropping her off at school this morning brought a few tears to my eyes (okay, maybe more than a few…) But anyways, back to the topic at hand. Over the last couple of years, I have seen pictures of kids on the first day of school holding up a sign to show what grade they were starting. I thought to myself “what a great idea, I should do that for my daughter”! So, yesterday afternoon, remembered that I had wanted to do that, so I set to work finding items around the house to make a sign that we could use each year to document her first day of school. Luckily we had everything I needed! The wood I used was scrap wood we had lying around.

diy sign for the first day of school each year, chalkboard paint, crafts, how to, woodworking projects

First, I cut all the boards on my miter saw. Once cut, I had these boards:

Next, I attached the two tongue and groove boards together using wood glue and laying them on a flat surface for the glue to dry.

Wood glue to attach tongue & groove boards

Once the glue had dried, I painted the front of the tongue and groove boards with black chalkboard spray paint.

While the black spray paint was drying, I painted the trim boards and the lettering for the sign with a can of purple spray paint. I had previously purchased a bag of small wooden letters from Hobby Lobby for another project and luckily I had enough letters left to make the “First Day Of” lettering I wanted for the sign. I also had some small wood appliques from Hobby Lobby that I painted and added to the sign.

Once all the boards were dry, I attached the trim pieces to the tongue and groove boards using wood glue and 2 1/2″ wood screws.

Attach trim boards with wood glue and 2 1/2" wood screws

Next, I glued the wood lettering and flowers onto the top tongue and groove board (the bottom board is where I will write in the grade my daughter will be attending each year).

Lastly, I used a piece of chalk to write the grade my daughter will be attending on the bottom board. Here’s the final finished sign:

And, here is one of my daughter holding the sign right before I took her to her first day of Kindergarten this morning (she’s so proud to be starting school!