Is it too early for a fall project? Maybe it will make fall come on in & cool things down a bit! I still have several produce boxes lying around that need to be used for something other than collecting dust. I decided to make one into a sign for my front porch. You can find buffalo plaid on almost everything these days & I love the look of it. I thought I’d change things up from the typical black & white & use some different colors. This DIY buffalo plaid was a little time consuming, but it was well worth it!
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The Produce Box
Since I can & freeze things, I usually by produce by the box full at the farmer’s market. The boxes are easy to take apart & unfold into a long, flat stretch of wood. They look like a long narrow pallet, except they are much lighter! The wire that helps hold it together also serves as ready-made hangers.
The wooden slats are unfinished & very thin, which means they can soak up some paint! I used chalk paint to give all the slats a base coat. Regular acrylic paint would require more coats to get this much coverage because it’s much thinner & soaks into the wood more.
Once I had a base coat down, it was time to layout some buffalo plaid!
DIY Buffalo Plaid Pattern
A buffalo plaid pattern typically consists of two colors in a broad checkered pattern. Typical combinations are red & black or black & white. I’m using chalk paint in “vintage” as one color & a light golden rod yellow acrylic for the other. Okay, technically the color is called “camel” but I disagree with that name! ; )
I used my long quilting ruler to lay out a plaid pattern on the produce box. Since the slats were about four inches thick, I marked {2} four inch blocks to each side of the wire running down the middle.
Then it was time to mark the diagonals where the different colors meet, like it does on buffalo plaid fabric. I drew a line from corner to corner of one of the blocks. Then I marked a line in ½” increments until I filled the block. My long quilt ruler was perfect for this because I could see through it.
After everything was marked, I filled in the squares that would be yellow. I used a picture of buffalo plaid fabric to make sure I was coloring in the right blocks. You could use painters tape to keep the lines straighter, but this is not a very flat surface & I felt it would be a waste of time & tape.
I started to use ¼” increments, but was glad I didn’t when it came time to paint all those lines! So many lines! I think I need to invest in one of these buffalo plaid stencils before I try another project like this.
Adding Words
Once all the lines were finally painted on, it was time to add some words to this sign. I used an oil based Sharpie paint pen to write the words & highlighted them with a grey Sharpie marker. This works better if you use light pressure & kind of brush it on with the tip of the pen.
I decided to go over everything with some brown wax to help tone it down a little. It will also give it some protection when it goes outside.
A few faux sunflowers were the perfect touch to let fall know I’m ready & waiting for it!
Now I just need to get the rest of my porch ready for fall! Dead plants might be good for Halloween, but not really any other occasion!
