I've been planning this project for over a year. The thing is I wanted to collect up a few different stencil sets to make the letters for each of the signs. They weren't easy to find and they weren't all cheap. Some came from home parties, some from the local craft stores and some I ordered online. It was fun to search for them but time consuming. So it took me a while.
Last summer I worked on the boards. They are mostly pallet boards. I cut the points on one of the ends of each of the boards. I made sure I left the more interesting ends uncut. I also tried to keep the nail holes, cracks in the boards, and the imperfections in the wood. I want all those interesting features.
I looked up the mileage for each of the signs I made. I started by making a list of places we've traveled to. I was surprised to see how many places I had listed. We've been very lucky to travel so much. It was such a fun project figuring it all out. The thing I didn't do very well is plan the direction of the arrows. I just slapped the stencils on and painted without any concern for where they would go. What an afterthought that was - ha!
Once I started planning how I would mount the signs I realized I should have planned things better. First I had to decide where the center pole would be positioned in the yard. Then I had to make sure that each sign was pointing in the right direction. So all the cities east of Oak Creek point east and all the places north point north, etc. After I worked things out there were signs on all four sides of the pole. So now, depending on where I place it in the yard, I will get to see different cities. How fun!
