.Until they rest in Thee: A how-to. (Unfortunately only on how to paint the quote; I find living it out significantly more difficult.)

"You have made us for yourself,

O Lord,

and our hearts are restless

until they rest in you."

-st. augustine

i've been wanting some simple and truthful words

on the walls by my bed.

i played around with inexpensive ideas on how to do so...

letters cut out of fabric?

large script, framed?

loving the looks of natural wood signs

like this and this...

and empowered by a how-to...

on wood it was.

step one:

pick quote.

st. augustine's quote on resting in God

has been in my head and heart lately.

i need it in my head and heart more...

reminding me.

step two:

pick font you love.

(i can't believe i'm saying this because it's sooo hipster and in right now but:

i've been getting really into 'typography'.

a combo of falling in love with this artist,

being friends with the krolls, mayr, and my bud isaiah,

and researching what i want in a tattoo...)

i tried out a few and settled on:

'living together.

beautiful,

scrawled handwriting-y, but still readable,

downloaded free.

step three:

find wood.

i love and am so grateful for these pieces,

they're solid mahogany and i think they're gorgeous...

and most of all i love the fact that aaron and irene gave them to me for free!

they were hand-me-downs from a long-ago deck project

and have been sitting in their garage for like eight years.

thanks guys!!!

step four:

print really big.

i used 250-pt.

step five:

spread out words as desired.

tape in place.

(it probably would be a good idea to measure

and i'm sure some people would draw lines and stuff to make sure the words come out properly spaced

and running straight...

buuuut, i mostly eyeballed it.)

step six:

trace letters heavily with a ball-point pen.

it will leave a light indent on the wood.

step seven:

fill in with paint of choice.

i kept a small lamp on the floor as i worked so i could see the indents clearer.

my initial plan was to use paint and a brush,

but for the sake of ease, i used a sharpie.

it worked great and i think was probably much easier to do details with.

step eight:

continue with steps six and seven

for the better part of a week and a half, if you're me.

(it's so relaxing!

every day i looked forward to coming home and sharpie-ing my quote...

is that weird?)

step nine:

apply wood glue liberally.

i brushed glue between the pieces i wanted together

and clamped them between the legs of my couch and my coffee table to dry,

then glued strips of cardboard and fabric to the back

and let everything dry overnight.

if you have a clamp, use it.

if not, use what you have!

like... harry potter, textbooks, and poetry.

step ten:

enjoy.

(a handy dad from church said he could help me figure out how to hang them up without pulling the plaster down. :-))