This personalized wooden sign with hooks is a quick, easy, and functional college dorm DIY! I made this sign for my brother who is a freshmen at UT Austin this year. He loves it as a hanger for his hats, but you can also use it to hang keys and other miscellaneous items.
Personalize to fit your needs
This wooden sign is super easy to personalize to your needs! You can add a custom quote or heading – such as something like “Hook ’em” or your last name. You can easily adjust the size or use scrap wood, and since this is a DIY, you get to control the spacing, number of hooks, aesthetics, etc.
Wooden Sign with Hooks for UT Austin Dorm Details
If you’d like to replicate or reference the sign I made, here are the details:
- Wooden board about XX” by XX”
- 3 black double wooden hooks (Amazon pack, on sale for $4.99)
- “Hook ’em” letters cut out on Cricut Heavy Chipboard – painted black
Time to DIY
Sometimes, it is easier to just buy things at the store. However, this DIY is totally worth it – it is quick AND custom! The entire DIY took me 2 days, but less than 3 hours total.
Day 1: Less than 30 minutes
- Prep, sand, stain the wood
Day 2: About 2 hours
- Cut (Cricut) and paint the letters
- Drill the holes, screw in the hooks, attach the letters
Instructions to make your personalized Wooden sign with Hooks
1. Prep, Sand, Stain the Wood
I used a scrap piece of wood that was already the correct size. If you don’t have something on hand, you can pick up some scrap wood from a nearby store or friend and cut to size if needed. I also considered using an old shelf, so don’t be afraid to get creative with what you have lying around.
- Note – The piece of wood I used had a hole in the middle. I recommend filling holes or imperfections with wood filler, but I was in a rush and used a letter to cover up the hole instead.
Next, it is important to sand your wood. I used an electric sander with a medium grit sandpaper. You can use a finer sandpaper to finish if you’d like a smoother surface.
To finish the prep work, stain or paint your wood! I used some leftover stain, but you can use whatever you want! This is an opportunity to customize to your desires.
2. Cut (Cricut) and paint the letters
To do this project, I was super excited to use my new Cricut Knife Blade! I got mine from Amazon for around 50% off – so keep an eye out for sales.
Alternatives: You can paint the letters by hand or with a stencil, use a paint pen, or even just use the Cricut (or similar machine) to cut out vinyl. Have fun getting creative!
For my wooden sign with hooks, I used the Cricut heavy chipboard and Cricut knife blade. Here are the details!
- Font: Shining Monday
- Size: 68
- Style: Regular
Using the Cricut Knife Blade: The Cricut Knife Blade is only compatible with the Cricut Maker machines. I recommend watching some YouTube tutorials before using. This video from Kelly Rossouw was the best and most informative video I found!
When you choose the “Heavy Chipboard” setting, it will suggest a super high number of passes. Instead of letting the Cricut complete all the passes, I kept an eye on it and took my project off after about 10 passes. I then used the Cricut tools to help punch out the letters.
To paint, I used a classic black acrylic paint. Luckily, mine dried super quick and was super forgiving. Don’t forget to paint the sides too!
3. Drill the holes, screw in the hooks, attach the letters
As listed earlier, I used these hooks from Amazon. I used 3 double hooks evenly spaced. I marked the spots with pencil and used a drill to make the holes.
By hand, I screwed the hooks on using the screws that came with the hooks. I then used hot glue to attach the painted letters. And you’re done!
4. Hang and enjoy!
We hung using two heavy duty command strips since we were using it in the dorm. You can also use other hanging tools, but this worked super well for a quick and easy DIY.
Hope you enjoy the DIY! Check out some other fun projects below:
