DIY A-Frame Sign Made from Ends of Baby Crib

Garden season is in full swing on our acreage and so far Mother Nature has been good to us.

Last year was a pretty devastating year for me as a gardener as I battled a number of barriers – the biggest being cucumber beetles destroying literally my entire plot. So in my opinion, I was due a fairly easy year this year. It’s been dry, but sunny and humid, and the garden has seemed to respond pretty well.
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Here’s a few photos of what I’m working with this year. These were taken just the other day – late July. 

Because I’ve had a good harvest, I’ve been able to continue offering free vegetables at the end of our driveway for passersby. We live on a busy road and our wheelbarrow of goodies is normally gone in a few short hours.
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Earlier this summer, we received the nicest note from an anonymous person thanking us for the veggies we provide! It completely caught us off guard, but felt very nice to know people appreciate it.

The letter really fired me up and made me anxious to get fresh produce out for our neighbors ASAP. This also meant I needed to start working on the new “Free Fresh Produce” A-frame sign I had been thinking about making over the winter. The old sign I had was made quickly out of cardboard and pallet wood. It still stands, even after two summers, but I thought it was time for something more durable and permanent.

I tried my best to be resourceful, using as many supplies that we already had as possible. If you’ve read my blog for a while, you may remember when I made a cucumber trellis out of the sides of a baby crib. I also made a light fixture out of the mattress spring from the crib. My goal was to utilize the whole thing, so guess what I made the A-frame sign from? The crib ends!

For this project I used:

• 2 Crib Ends
• Sandpaper
• Exterior Paint
• Clear Coat Spray Paint
• 2 Door Hinges
• 2 24 inch Small Link Chains

The crib was painted in high gloss white, so I sanded and wiped both ends down before painting. I applied two coats of red exterior paint. We then attached the door hinges to the top – laying both pieces flat on the ground, backsides up, tops touching, pre-drilling for the screws, and drilling them in. The ends are heavy! So I chose door hinges because I wanted the sign to hold up well. They ended up being perfect.

The lettering was hand drawn with pencil first, and then I painted in with white exterior paint. Once the paint was fully dry, I put two layers of clear coat spray paint over the entire sign to seal it from the elements.

Lastly, we attached the small chain to each side of the A-frame near the bottom so the sign didn’t splay out and fall to the ground.
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Here is the finished product! We were quite proud of it in the end and it really pops, getting peoples’ attention.

​What have been some of your favorite DIY projects this summer?