Dead and Breakfast

In my Pinterest searches I came across this awesome idea from Better Homes and Gardens.  It is a Dead and Breakfast yard sign.  I decided as soon as I saw this I was going to make this.  I also decided this was going to be my entire party theme.  Last year I had seen some of the repossessed faux real estate signs specifically for Halloween.  I thought about doing something like that, but since I had plenty of time, and way too many ideas running through my head...Dead and Breakfast it is.

Here is my take on the sign.

So how did I do it?  Not quite the same way they did, so here are my instructions:

Supplies:

- 1 - 1x6 board (about 8 feet)
- 1x4 piece of scrap (about 15")
- 2 - 1x3 pieces of scrap (about 16" each, 1x2 would work too)
- Porch railing (I got mine at Home Depot for about $20)
- Large porch finial (totally optional, but I think it finishes it nicely, I think $5 or $6)
- 2x4 scrap pieces (one piece was 24" and another at 6") 
- 2x8 scrap piece (about 15", but bigger is probably better)
- Whitish paint (I used Behr Exterior Paint and Primer in One in Linen White)
- Blackish paint (I used Behr Exterior Paint and Primer in One in Black Suede)
- Black Craft Paint
- Paint brush (I used a 1 1/2" Purdy angled brush)
- Craft Paint Brush
- 8 - Eye Hooks
- 8 - Chain links (you could use chain instead, the links were easier for me to work with)
- Saws (jig saw and miter saw)
- Drill and bits
- Screws (1 1/4", 2", and 3")

First thing I did was take a 1x6 board and cut it into thirds.  Mine was about 99 inches, so I did 3 at 33 inches.  I didn't need anywhere near that much.  This 1x6 came with my house, so I don't really remember how much one costs.  I lined the 3 up so they butted up against each other.

Then I picked a good versus bad side  I flipped them over so good side down.  I used the 1x3 pieces to hold the 3 boards together.  I screwed 2 screws per board per 1x3 just to be sure it would all hold together.  I used my Black and Decker cordless drill with my Ryobi speed load drill bits.  If you don't have one, you want one.  No unscrewing and screwing the chuck to get your bits out.  It's like snap in and snap out, super easy, super fast, especially when switching between bits.  I didn't counterset anything, it's not super important to be pretty.  It's going outside and it's decoration.

I flipped it back over and then drew my sign shape.  I free-handed it.  I have 2 sets of lines because I did the first ones and realized the sign was going to be way too big, well at least length-wise.  I just followed the lines again to make it smaller.  Making sure I didn't try to cut off my cross pieces.

I used my DeWalt jig saw to cut the sign out.  I didn't bother sanding or anything.  Once again, it's going outside for decoration.

Then I decided to paint the sign.  I went with the exterior whitish color that I had, which was Linen White from Behr.  It's the paint on the outside of my house.  I didn't really want it to cover 100%, just get a good base coat.  I also grabbed a scrap 1x4 at this point to paint too.  It's about 15 inches long.  I painted this too.

 

After it was all painted I decided to put my wording on the sign.  I really wasn't too creative here.  I decided against the word Inn and the established year.  There is a template on the Better Homes and Gardens site, but I just free-handed this.

You can almost see the pencil lines.  I just used some black craft paint and a craft paint brush.  It's not actually outdoor proof, but I'm planning on spraying some poly over the top.  The craft paint is just easier to work with then the exterior paint.

Then I put in the eye hooks into the bottom of the sign and into the top of the vacancy section.  I used two chain links on each side to connect everything.  I really just didn't want to use chain since I hate cutting metal.

I had to build my post as well.  I bought a pre-made pressure treated porch post.  I attached a scrap piece of 1x8 that was leftover from my garage door trim.  I used 3 inch screws to attach this piece.  I wanted a piece of 2x4 across the top, but wanted a little more support.  I used my miter saw to cut a second piece of 2x4 with 45 degree angles.  I attached the little piece to the post, and then attached the bigger 2x4 at 24 inches to the little 2x4 and the post.  I also screwed in my finial to the top of the post.  I had bought a nice cap for the post too, but it no longer fit with the side arm and everything.  The finial just gave it a nice final touch.

Then I put the eye hooks on the top of the sign and the bottom of the long 2x4 so that the sign could hang down.  This made it actually look like the sign it was supposed to be.

I debated a little on the color of the post, but I decided to just paint it all the light white color as a base coat.  The post was pressure treated, but the 2x4 and 2x8 were not.  It looked like this:

I decided to dry a dry brush technique with black paint over the white.  This would highlight the design lines on the post more than just white or black would.  I only had two exterior paint colors, so that made all of this easy.  I just dipped my brush in paint, then wiped most of it off on a rag, then painted.  It took several coats, but I wanted to build up instead of trying to wipe it all back off if I didn't like it.  Here's the close-up of the finish.

And finally, the finished product.  Hopefully it works well with the rest of my outdoor decorations.