I am excited to share this next DIY project with you! An Event and Family Celebrations Countdown Wall Hanging Plaque with interchangeable event names, numbers and dates.
My kids (and my hubby) are always asking me, “when is the next birthday?” Or, “when is the next holiday?” Or, “when is the next vacation, family time, party, special event…” you get the idea.
So, I wanted to create a fun and visual way for all of us to countdown to our next event, whatever that may be. And you know what? It has been a complete success!
I receive SO many compliments on my event board and those that come to my house think it is just such a cool idea that I am posting for all to see and for all to create for their own home in their own colors to match their home.
As you can see, my walls are beige and so I love the simple colors. I love that it blends well and displays on my wall like a beautiful and professional wall art.
And that brings me to my next point – how professional it looks. And by professional, I mean clean, crisp and perfect in lettering.
The secret is to use vinyl on your wall hangings, home decor and other wall or display art. Vinyl is seriously so easy to use much, MUCH easier than painting, stenciling, writing, sharpie..ing (new word of the week) any other craft project. So not only is it easier, but it is very clean and crisp!
It looks like I purchased it from the store – when in fact, it was born, designed, created and assembled right in my living room!
Now, let me clarify something…I don’t have a vinyl machine. I can’t make the vinyl. And I don’t even remotely do enough vinyl to begin to justify the cost of buying a machine. But that is where my favorite vinyl company comes into play – CustomVinylDecor.com.
This is where I get my vinyl for several reasons:
- It’s high quality
- It’s very affordable
- It’s easy to apply and use
- They will customize ANY idea and make ANYTHING YOU WANT (I literally just sketch my idea on a computer piece of paper with my rough drawings, snap a picture on my cell phone and email the hand drawn design to them and they create EXACTLY what I want!)
- It’s a small business by a stay-at-home-mom who is actually employing other stay-at-home-moms across the country to also print and ship the vinyl. So I am supporting many stay-at-home-moms and that means A LOT to me as a stay-at-home-mom myself trying to earn extra income.
So let me talk about the last point for a moment before continuing this project. Vinyl is a HUGE industry right now. Vinyl is super popular because, as you can see, it creates amazing projects, workspaces and walls. It has made home decor and design revolutionary for busy families and homes, while making the home…well, homey.
And the lady that started this company saw the demand and met the need, but it grew so fast that she needed to grow. So instead of building or renting a big office building and creating a large corporation and having employees…she wanted to build a network of other moms who have the desire to stay at home with their kids, while giving them the ability to earn extra money from home by printing and shipping the incoming orders. These moms are located all over the country and meet your vinyl needs and your order greatly improves your living space, while you are empowering them to stay at home.
I love, LOVE that business model! Isn’t that just awesome?
Well, back to the project at hand.
So my customized vinyl design came in this very sturdy mailing tube….keeping the vinyl nice and neat and bend-free.
This is the vinyl that came inside. It was perfect shape, and then I opened it and set it on my couch and my toddler jumped on the couch and sat on it, bent it up a little, but it didn’t affect the actual outcome at all…for which I was super thankful. So although it comes in perfect shape…if you bring it to my house, one of my 6 kids will make sure it doesn’t stay that way!
This is what arrived.
Now here’s the cool part, I want to show you my original sketch of my design and how she created something spectacular!
I wanted a board that included the main title (it’s countdown time) and then tags that hung down specifying the event, the number and then the days/weeks/months until the event. I wanted the Countdown in black and the It’s Time in white. I gave her the measurements for my board that I bought at Hobby Lobby ($8.99 plus 40% off) and the dimensions of my hanging rectangles and circles that I also bought in the wood working section of Hobby Lobby.
The events that I have on the tags are:
- special event
- birthday
- holiday
- vacation
- family time
- holiday
I then had two sets of the numbers 0-9 made and then vinyl to create the tags for the days/weeks/months. These are interchangeable and can rotate as our family needs!
Honestly, I was a bit skeptical that it would all come together with the very little information I gave her. But, to my surprise – it was EXACT in every way – the design, the sizes and the colors (although black and white are not difficult colors to match).
Here’s how I made the DIY Family Celebrations Countdown Events Wall Hanging Plaque with Interchangeable Event Names and Dates
Supplies needed:
- 24″ x 6″ board that is ready to be painted
- Wood Rectangles 2 3/8th x 1 1/2 x3/16
- Wood Circles 1 1/2 x 1/8
- Paint in your choice colors (acrylic or oil based are best – mattes and latex paints do not work well with vinyl)
- Vinyl as shown and listed above (email custom order HERE)
- Sawtooth Hangers for back
- 3×12 mm screw eyes for the circles and rectangles
- 8×18 mm screw eyes for hooks on the board
- Pliers
- Hammer
- Sponge Paint Brushes
- Tape Measure
- Club Card (debit card, rewards card, etc)
How to make:
- Paint the board and the circles and rectangles
- Do two coats and you can just wait about 30 minutes between each coat.
- After the second (or third) coat, we advise that you wait for 2-3 days before applying the vinyl so it is very dry and not sticky or tacky.
- Once dry, you will want to attach the screw eyes to the discs and the board.
- Start by creating hooks from the screw eyes – I used screw eyes because and actual hooks were so large – but you may find smaller hooks too. If not, just turn 4 of the 8×18 mm screw eyes into hooks by opening them slightly with a pair of pliers.
- Once these are done, you will want to measure where you want to hang the four components of the plaque – the event name, spots for two numbers and the date.
- After you measure, screw the hooks into the four places on the bottom edge of the board.
- Then carefully screw the 3×12 mm screw eyes into the edge of the circles and rectangles. This takes patience.
- After all of the hooks are in, it’s time to apply the vinyl.
- When you receive your vinyl from CustomVinylDecor, you will have instructions and a sample shape to test on your area. Use this for practice, but you will find that it is quite simple.
- After you have practiced, prep your surface (I didn’t need to do anything for acrylic paint), then measure and plan where you are going to place your vinyl. It is somewhat forgiving, but you want to get it in the right place the first time so you don’t lose stickiness.
- Cut your vinyl down to the shape you want by leaving at least a .5″ all around as your grabbing surface.
Applying vinyl step #1 – using a card like a debit/store reward card, gently rub the vinyl against the clear top coat so it will stick and come off easily.
Applying vinyl step #2 – Peel off the paper backing, the clear coat will be sticky and we recommend holding onto the clear surface and not any of the actual vinyl.
Applying vinyl step #3 – Place in position. Once you are certain of it’s position, use the debit/rewards card again, this time with the intent of sticking the design to your surface by rubbing against the top of the clear layer.
Applying vinyl step #4 – Gently peel away the clear layer, as you do so, you may need to “rub” the vinyl off the clear coat and onto the surface.
Once it’s peeled away, it’s done!! SUPER SIMPLE!
- Finally, once all of the vinyl is applied, you are ready to attach the sawtooth hanger – I did this on a soft surface, like carpet to not damage or scrape the front side.
- Put all of your pieces in place and hang your discs according to your next event and enjoy the countdown!
More vinyl application examples:
And an example switching it out with the next event!
Like I said, I love this board, my family loves this board, my visitors and friends love this board – it’s just been such a fun addition to our home decor that is also very interactive and practical. This has been such a fun project, that it is something you might want to consider for a gift too!
I really didn’t cost me much either – especially with the affordable vinyl options from CustomVinylDecor HERE I found and the supplies at Hobby Lobby on sale or with my 40% off coupon!
We have another super popular Vinyl Board Idea that we shared already – the Family Birthday’s board – another great gift idea and you can get the vinyl through CustomVinylDecor as well!
See more DIY projects in our DIY Gallery
[…] Family Celebrations Countdown Board […]