Directional Arrows Sign

Don’t you just have an affinity for those colorful directional arrows signs you see around cabins and cottages?

You know the ones pointing the way and how far to get to an inn, or the ice cream store (the “dairy” as they call them in Maine) or marina or some fun little store, in the colors and fonts known for that particular place? Taking inspiration from the ones in Kennebunkport, ME, (KPT) I came up with a little bit different message on one for the Maine cottage. Here’s what I did and what it looks like…

First, here’s a couple of pictures of only a few of the many inspiring directional arrows signs found around KPT.

I just love all the colors and fonts!

Depending on what kind of corner, some of them have directional arrows pointing all four ways on every side, so fun!

It would be fun to make one for outside but the project I’m sharing with you today is one for inside.

As I made my DIY directional arrows sign while I was staying at the cottage in Maine, I had very limited tools, but there was no need once I spied these simple arrows.

This is just a fun little decor for inside the cottage,

so doing it ‘on the cheap’ is the ruling thought. 🙂

The arrows I found are now discontinued… But here is a shopping link for some very similar, and they come in a pack of 6.) I have both the arrows and paint markers sourced for you from the same place.

Mine are two connecting pieces of some sort of thin hardboard. Like the ones I sourced for you, there was a twine hanger across the top, (you can still see the two holes in each arrow).

When I first bought them, they were a tan color. I painted the frames an assortment of fun colors like the different colors of the KPT town signs.

I have actually been wanting to do this project for a while…

but instead of listing local places, I wanted to write towns and the distance to them, that bare a special significance to our family.

I’ve know there are different techniques to transfer script from the computer, and you can do that if you prefer.

However, I don’t have a printer handy, and I actually prefer to do it by hand. I find it really relaxing and enjoyable to do. It’s more like drawing to me, not writing.

Here’s my technique to print these scripts by hand.

First, working on Microsoft Power Point, I wrote out the town and mileage, then played around with the font selection until I liked the chosen font for the specific place. I then added 2 reference lines through the center of the script, both vertically and horizontally. These reference lines are super important, they tell you what part of the letter is above or below, and if you refer to that, instead of allowing your own handwriting to take over, you will approach it like drawing a picture, instead of printing letters. It really works!

Though it’s not visible in the computer screen shot I showed you above, I winded up moving the horizontal reference line up to go across the top of the lower case letters. You can see this change in the lettering below:

This picture doesn’t look like much, but it’s actually showing you the light pencil lines I drew on the arrow. I’ve added a bottom line besides the two center vertical and horizontal lines.

Now you can see the arrow with the penciled in script.

I started in the center of the arrow, with the MN and then worked out to the right and left from the center.

Permanent ‘chalk’ look

For this sign, I wanted a more permanent treatment than chalk, so once the penciled letters were done, I used a white paint marker.

HERE is a shopping link for this marker.

And HERE they are in a pack of colored paint markers, if you wanted to add a colorful border around the chalkboard arrow like mine were.

You need to shake them well and often, (with the lids on! I have the paint splatters around the kitchen to show what happens if you don’t have the lid on!!)

And then you lightly press the tip on some paper towel to get the paint to flow into the felt tip.

It’s easy to follow the sketched letters with the white paint pen.

This one was a tight squeeze!

Found Wood Post was Perfect!

After I got the 6 arrows done, I needed to find a piece of wood to use for the ‘post’ to hold them. I really wanted an old weathered looking piece of wood, exactly 36″ long, to fit the arrows and space on the wall. (remember, no saw here, and this is a budget project)

Wow!

When I drove by a cute little house in that had some miscellaneous ‘free’ items at the end of the road, I spotted it!

The pile was a window blind, part of a bay window roof, a chair cushion and this 36″ piece of weathered wooden board. The exact look and size!

Even though the board had a slight crack in the middle of it, for my use, it didn’t matter. (So funny they put it at the end of the road for free… I really don’t think anyone in their right mind would want this junky piece of wood… besides the rare chance of me looking for this exact piece!)

I hot glued the arrows on the old board, pointing in the appropriate direction from where the sign would hang in the cottage. And then just screwed the ‘post’ to the wall.

And there you have it!

The directional arrows sign all finished.

Fun, colorful decor with a meaning. Did you notice, everything is west from the cottage, except the beach. 😉

I hope this was encouraging to you to feel confident to do some handwritten script, with a few reference lines, just draw what you see.

Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate you reading along.

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