Making ‘Curb Your Dog’ Signs’ – Signs of the Beautiful

Making and displaying attractive curb your dog signs will be more apt to change the behaviors of dog owners and  protect and beautify your neighborhood.

In my blog, Curb Your Dog – Signs of the Beautiful, I promised to help you create your own signs.  Some steps are a bit finicky. If you need help along the way, email me at ruta@rutas-rules.com

Finding Sayings to Make Signs of the Beautiful

1. Search the Internet or books for sayings about nature, trees, dogs, etc. The site, brainyquote.com is also a good source of quotes.
2. Enter the saying and author into Word.
3. Come up with an appropriate message to protect the environment. The themes I use are changing pet behavior,  respecting nature and uplifting people’s spirits.

Making it Easy: If you don’t want to spend the time looking for sayings, I can email the six sayings at the end of the article (ready for a 5” x 7” frame). ruta@rutas-rules.com.

Printing

1. Use light colored card stock. It is firm enough to be laminated but light enough to go through your printer.
2. Print with the Britannic Bold font available on most word processing programs.
3. Additionally, I do at least 20 printings since I constantly adjust the typography. I want the largest letters possible.I  play around with spacing and size the letters. I make author’s names smaller. The important message is larger.
4. In “Format” at the top of your toolbar, you can adjust  the print size incrementally until you find the best fit.

Making it Easy: If you need help with setting up the typography of your sign, email me and I will help.

Cutting the Paper

I put the glass over the saying to make a tracing. Then, after I cut the paper, I take off an extra 1/16” on each side, which is necessary to make room for the folds of the laminate.

Waterproofing

1. To waterproof your signs, you must laminate them.
2. The best thing to do for waterproofing is to laminate the signs. Avoid clear contact paper because it simply does not work.
3. Be careful not  cut the laminate to fit the frame because you could break the seal. Instead, fold it and tape it to the back.
4. Don’t laminate in 5mm because the laminate is too hard to bend. Some Staples stores have 3mm, but I have to wait for 30 minutes for the machine to heat up.
5. Allow at least 1/2 inch of a laminate  overhang. Fold overhang to back of sign and secure with strong weatherproof tape. Duct tape works. that and secure

Making it Easy: I now use Avery self-laminating film to keep things simple. I don’t need a laminating machine or wait in a staples line.

Framing

1. A  5″ X 7″ metal frame is a good size for your sign. I get mine from Michaels.
2. Always try to find a frame that has holes in the design . With this in mind, you will have more options for attachment with wire, screws or black cable cords.
3. Choose the color best suited to your outside design. I spray the back and front with a flat black spray paint to match the architectural details of our tree guards.

Backing Frames

The backings of the frames come in cardboard or velvet and cannot be used on the outside. It is important to find an alternative, which was my greatest challenge. Because we used the frame’s glass in front as intended, water would get in between the glass and the laminated paper. New York City rain can be dirty, so every couple of months, I would have to clean the framed picture  I would clean the glass and the laminated paper with Windex.

If the backs were too tight (black Lucite), it was difficult to take them apart, clean and reassemble. If the backs were too loose or bendable  they would bulge a bit on the sides and sometimes fall out. I finally made the black Lucite pieces smaller. Eventually, I found something to make it easy.

Making it easy: Consider using the glass as the frame backing, which eliminates the need to clean the signs and find a backing.  If you are using a black frame, you must use something black, before inserting the glass as backing. You  can use black contact paper or black duct tape. Be careful cutting off the excess contact paper because you don’t want to cut the laminate seal.

My favorite backing is a piece of black plasticized paper found on calendars or school report covers. They won’t fall out with the glass as the back supports.

(Note: If using a glass as backing, the folded laminate must be hidden. Black contact paper or black duct tape does the trick. Be careful not to pierce the laminate when removing the excess.)

You  can use black contact paper or black duct tape. Be careful cutting off the excess contact paper because you don’t want to cut the laminate seal.

My favorite backing is a piece of black plasticized paper found on calendars or school report covers. They won’t fall out with the glass as the back supports.

Attaching the Frames to the Tree Guards

1. Use screws and bolts to attach signs.
2. . Remember to spray the screw heads black or the color to match your frame.

Free Curb Your Dog Signs

If you send me your email, I will email you the following six sign quotes, ready to fit into a 5″ X 7″ frame. Make the world beautiful! Contact me at ruta@rutas-rules.com. for additional help

If you need help at any step along the way, contact me at ruta@rutas-rules.com

avery.com

michaels.com