DIY Door Hanger: Hello Gorgeous!

This crafty DIY Door Hanger will make your visitors smile while they’re waiting for you to open the door.

I love having visitors. To me, they’re like the rare handwritten letter in the middle of a mailbox full of bills and advertisements. Having a visitor at my door (not counting the ones trying to sell me something) is a refreshing break in a day that’s often filled with chores and sometimes even loneliness. And any excuse to fire up the coffeemaker and sit down with a friend is a good thing!

So to make my visitors feel welcome I made this colorful sign, instead of a welcome mat which would inevitably be covered with leaves and dusty footprints. This one is right at eye level and stays clean, no matter what folks may track in with them!

Want to make your own Door Hanger? It’s easy, and you don’t need any artistic ability, I promise. Here’s how.

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How to Make a Door Hanger

You’ll need:

• A wood plank. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby at an after-Valentine’s sale for about $1.60.
• Jute string or twine.
• 5 colors of craft paint (4 for the background and 1 for the overlay)
• small paint brush
• 1″ foam paint brush
• Utility knife
• Blue painter’s tape
• Letter stickers, the thicker and bolder, the better they’ll stand out. Just make sure they’ll fit on your board.

The Process:

First, prepare your wood plank. I simply had to remove the string from mine and sand it lightly.

If you’re making your own, you’ll need to cut the wood to the size you want, drill two holes at the top corners for string, then sand.

Using the small paintbrush, paint several marks of the first color all over your board. You can do dots or slashes, or any pattern you like, but I painted mine at an angle. I think it looks a little like rain.

Continue to paint several layers of paint, using different colors for each layer, until the wood is completely covered.

Wash your brush between colors of paint, so they don’t get too smudged together.

In case you’re wondering, the paint colors I used are Anita’s: Topaz, Hawaii, Wasabi, and Navy Blue.

Once your board is completely covered and you like the effect, allow it to dry overnight. If you’re not satisfied, keep applying layers of colors. It gets better and better the more you do this.

The next day, carefully apply your letters, using a straight edge to line them up correctly. I wanted mine right justified, so I applied them backwards from right to left to make sure the spacing worked out. 

After thinking about it, I decided to leave the holes in the center of the “O”s to allow more pretty background to show through.

Add blue painter’s tape at the top and bottom of your letters.

Carefully use the foam brush to paint the contrasting color over all the letters, and to the edge of the tape. I used a leftover tester sample of Valspar “Gravity” paint for this part.

This was the hardest part for me. I was afraid of covering up all that beautiful painting I had worked so hard on!

Allow the paint to dry until it’s touchable, but for no more than an hour or so. You want it to still be slightly pliable when you peel off the letters and tape.

Using a utility knife, pry up the edge of one of the letters and carefully remove it. You can use the knife to cut around the edge of the letter if it doesn’t want to separate from the paint. Continue with all the stickers and tape.

Have you ever looked at a word so many times that the right spelling looks wrong? When I was peeling off these stickers, after all that work, I was sure I had spelled gorgeous wrong. Argh!

But I looked it up and set my mind at ease. I’d hate for my first impression on visitors to be misspelled! Next time, I should probably look it up before doing all that work.

Now you just need to attach the string. I used a hangman’s noose knot, but you could use any knot that you like. If you want to use this one, you can find the easy tutorial on Howcast. Finish by trimming the ends.

Hang your sign on the door. In my last wreath project, I showed you how to hang a command hook upside down on the back of the door, if you don’t want your hooks to be visible. 

And be sure to use a little poster putty to anchor the edges or the banging will drive you crazy every time you open the door.

Now when your friends come over, they get an instant compliment while waiting for you to open the door. It’s a great way to start a conversation!

Come visit me some time – I’ll tell you you’re gorgeous and make you some coffee!