Putting things "Away", Father's Day gift idea

I'm a very organized person. But we have little closet space, so little by little, I'm trying to organize things. For Father's Day, I am going to provide some organization for my husband's tools, toys, etc. I'm getting a set of utility shelves to put in the basement, and making a sign that says "AWAY" (so he can put his things "away.")

Everything I used for the sign was something I already had in the house. I didn't buy anything.

Materials:
piece of wood
spray paint (I used silver)
drop cloth
big letter stencils
(I made my own using a cereal box, pencil, and box cutter)
a few tools to trace
pencil
choice of paint colors
small paint roller (or brush)
artist paint brushes


Procedure:

1. Find a piece of wood to use for the sign. I was going to use an old cupboard door, but then I found this laying around, so I decided to put it to use. It's just an old, oddly shaped piece of wood.


2. Spray paint the wood the color you want for the background. I chose silver (because I already had some). I used a dropcloth underneath, because I didn't want my husband to see the evidence on the grass. Otherwise, I wouldn't really care if the grass got painted a little bit.

3. If you don't have stencils, make your own. I used a cereal box, drew the letter's A, W, and Y freehand in block-style letters...
...then cut them out with a box cutter.


4. Choose a paint color for your letters. I wanted to use green. I used a kind of lime green color, and added black to darken it, and it turned into this olive/army green.

5. Using a small paint roller (you probably could use a brush, I just thought this was easier), stencil your letters onto the sign.


6. My letters were a bit smudged around the edges, so I wiped the smudges up with a cotton swab. There was still some color left, so I ended up painting a brown border around the letters to cover the smudges.

7. Take a few tools (I used a hammer, a wire cutter, and a screw driver), and trace them with pencil directly onto the board. Fill in with paint, using artist brushes.

The finished product
(now if I can find a place to hide this until Father's Day...)