A lot of the projects and crafts that you can do for your home or as a gift don’t require many supplies and are super easy and cheap to make. What matters the most, in this case, is actually the creativity, love and care put into the project and not the materials or supplies used for it. This for instance is a super simple decoration made with thumbtacks of all things. We’ll show you exactly how it was made so you can craft your own if you want to.

Materials you’ll need for this thumbtack project:

Wood boardpink acrylic paintpaintbrushpencilthumbtackshammer

How to make the thumbtack sign:

Step 1: Get your supplies ready

First things first, make sure you have everything you need for this project so you can get it all done in one session. You’ll need a bunch of thumbtacks and there’s actually quite a few different types that you can choose from. We used gold thumbtacks for this project but you can customize your own sign however you want.

Step 2: Paint the board

You can use whatever color of paint you want for this project. We chose a nice share of pink which goes quite well with the gold thumbtacks. The colors complement each other and together make this art piece look chic and beautiful. Use a paintbrush to paint the whole wooden board. You can first paint the entire center and leave the edges for later to make sure everything looks nice and clean.

Paint around the edges and on the sides of the board as well so no wood shows through when you’re putting this piece on display.

Step 3: Lightly sketch the love sign at the center

Use a pencil to lightly sketch the work “Love” at the center of the board. You can use whatever font you like. Cursive letters would suit this design quite nicely. You might have to erase the letters and try again several times until you’re happy with how it’s all centered and proportioned in relation to the board. Leave enough space at the top and bottom for the rest of the design.

Step 4: Add thumbtacks on top of the letters

The next step is to push the thumbtacks in place along the design that you’ve just sketched. Start from the top of the L and finish with the E, making sure to carefully position each thumbtack so you get a nice flowing line. You’ll need a hammer to push them all the way into the board so they’re flush with it and there’s no visible gaps.

Step 5: Sketch the pattern at the top and bottom

Once all the letters are outlined with the thumbtacks, it’s time to sketch the rest of the design using a pencil. We chose a simple chevron line for the top. andbottom of the board, something to frame the Love in the middle and to add a bit more detail to the design without overcomplicating it.

Step 6: Outline the top with thumbtacks

Just like you did before, push more thumbtacks into the board to outline the stripes at the top and the bottom. Start from the top left and follow the pencil line all the way to the right. Our design is quite symmetrical and this was intentional but you can make adjustments and come up with your own unique pattern if you have something different in mind.

Step 7: Repeat for the bottom part

Repeat this whole process for the bottom section and add another set of thumbtacks in a pattern that mimics the one at the top. Once again, this is the part where you can get creative and try something different instead.

Step 8: Add the finishing touches

All that’s now left is to add a few finishing touches. We chose to add five more thumbtacks, two at the top and three at the bottom in the little gaps at the center of the triangles. They tie together the design and add just a bit more detail to it.