A Note From Autumn
I made these quote boards as a gift for a friend. They were easy, they were inexpensive, and I love the idea of having quote such as these up on the wall. I’m planning to make another set for myself—it’s a nice project to start the New Year off right.
I’m not sure what the board itself is called, but I got it at Home Depot in a 3’ x 6’ sheet. It’s a quarter inch thick and must be some kind of particle/press board or something, but it’s very sturdy and quite smooth. It was near the plywood and cost about $4.50. I asked the employee at Home Depot to cut it up for me, and I ended up with 12 squares that were 12” x 12”, and another 9 or 10 squares that were 8” x 8”, and I’ve been using these for all sorts of home décor projects. All the boards need is a little sanding and they’re ready to go.
Then I went looking for pictures. The white flower is from WCS’ very own Elizabeth Dillow, and the other two are from an incredible photographer on flickr, TANAKA Juuyoh http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanaka_juuyoh/. Many photos on flickr are posted under a CC (Creative Commons) license that allows you to use the photos for personal use, as long as you give credit. Be sure to look for pictures that are posted at a high resolution.
I used Photoshop Elements to size my pictures at 6” x 6”, then added a digital sanded overlay (houseof3.com), and my text. You want to be sure to choose photos that have some area of consistent light or dark color where you can add your quotes. If the entire picture is too busy it will be very hard to read the words over top. (I did add a low opacity white gradient under my quotes to make them show up better, but that’s purely optional). And if you aren’t comfortable with Photoshop, you could use letter stickers or journaling strips right on top of your photo to add a quote.
Then I simply used Mod Podge to attach the pictures to the middle of the boards (Mod Podge under the picture only, let it dry, then Mod Podge the entire front of the board, right over the picture). I hammered a picture hanger to the back of each board—you have to be careful not to hammer these in quite all the way, or they’ll come all the way through the way through the board and stick out the front.
All three of my quotes are from the book One Bright Shining Hope, by Gordon B. Hinckly, former President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.