DIY Lost Sock Sign

Socks are the worst part about laundry! You put them in the hamper together, you wash all of the clothing in said hamper. Then, somehow, at the bottom of your basket, you have these leftover socks with no match! It’s insane.

If you don’t have a random pile of loner socks lying around somewhere in your house, “YOU ARE A WIZARD HARRY”/WITCH, and you should probably try your hand at some of those nifty wand tricks they teach at Hogwarts. For the rest of us muggles, we need a place to safely store the loner socks until their match appears. Either that, or we give up looking for said match and make an Easter sock bunny family out of the sad, lonely, leftover socks….yes, I 100% did that. The tutorial is on my Instagram page 😉

Seriously though, I don’t know where you all keep your loner sock piles, but I needed a solution. My pile has moved from the closet floor of my bedroom to a permanent spot at the bottom of my laundry basket in hopes that the next load of laundry would yield at least a couple of matches.

When I started seeing these adorable “Lost Sock” signs coming out, I wanted one bad! I couldn’t use the ones with the cute little clothespins that hold maybe 5 socks, because my sock pile was too big (face palm). I knew Etsy had some with built on baskets but they were too expensive.

My solution? Say it with me folks! “I can probably just make that myself.”

I love how mine turned out! The most expensive part was buying the plywood for $25. However, I’m making at least three other signs out of the leftover pieces. Not bad, I mean there’s always something you can do with the leftover materials 🙂

Here is the finished product. Goofy sock collection courtesy of my goofy husband!

If you’d like to make one of these bad boys, keep on reading 🙂

Materials:
* (1) 1/2″ Sheet of Plywood cut to your sign specifications (you can cut it yourself if you have a saw, or you can have the nice folks at Home Depot do it for you).
*(2) 1×2 Wood Trim Pieces (this is for your frame). Again, you can have these cut in the store for you, but you will need your measurements beforehand.
*Sanding Block
*Black and White Paint
*Large Paint Brush (used for sign and frame)
*Small Paint Brush/Foam Brush (used for lettering; Amazon Option)
*4″ Letter stencils ( I already had mine from Hobby Lobby. Here are two options from Amazon; Option 1, Option 2)
*Wall Mountable Basket (found mine on Amazon)
*Picture Hanging Hardware
*Screws for basket (we used 3/8″ screws because we wanted them short enough to not go all the way through the plywood)

Tools:
*Circular Saw (if you are cutting your plywood and trim yourself)
*Finish Nailer (framing)
*Hammer

Directions:

Step 1- Prep Your Plywood

The first thing you will need to do is cut your plywood to size. Decide where you are hanging your sign and choose your measurement accordingly. My sign is 16″(L) x 14″ (H).

Note: If you have already purchased your basket, you should consider those measurements as well. You want to make sure your basket fits on your sign.

Once your sign is cut, lightly sand it with your sanding block. Then wipe it clean with a dry cloth.

Step 2- Paint Your Sign

I painted my sign white. However, you can paint it whatever color matches your decor. I used leftover paint that I used on my walls (Valspar Oxford White in Satin).

Paint with at least two coats of your chosen color and then let it dry completely.

Step 3- Place Your Stencils

I purchased these 4″ letter stencils from Hobby Lobby a long time ago. I have used them for multiple projects. I would love to have one of those amazing Cricut Stencil machines, but they are just too expensive at this point in my life. This is definitely the more difficult way to do lettering, but it’s cheaper!

If you have a better way, please use it.

I start by cutting out the letters I need. Then, I place them to see how they will fit best. I had already purchased my basket. This allowed me to see how the letters would fit with the basket attached.

Step 4- Painting Your Letters

Once you have a general idea of where you want your letters, you will need to do some quick measurements. They are not exact or perfect, but my husband doesn’t allow me to eyeball things. He’s very precise and when I eyeball things, it upsets his mathematical brain.

Basically, I measured from the top of the sign to the top of the first letter. I use that measurement to try and keep all of my letters straight. See picture below.

Then, I line the next letter up the best I can and measure between the two letters to try and keep spacing the same.

You can tape the stencils down with scotch tape, or be careful to hold them still while you are painting. Use a foam brush to lightly dab paint onto each letter stencil.

Step 5- Framing

In order to start framing your sign, you will need your 1×2 wood trim pieces.

First, you will need to measure the vertical sides of your sign. Cut your 1×2 trim to those measurements.

Next, you will measure the horizontal sides with the vertical trim attached. You want the horizontal trim to connect with and line up with the vertical trim.

After cutting the frame pieces to size, you can paint or stain them. I chose to paint mine black.

Lastly, use a finish nailer to secure the framing. Make sure the frame is attached so that the back side of the sign is completely flat.

Step 6- Attach Your Basket

For this step, all you’re doing is centering your basket and attaching it with screws. The trickiest part is finding the right size screws. My husband found some at Home Depot that were short enough to not go through the back of the sign. They also came painted white, which looked nicer on the sign than silver.

Step 7-Attach Your Hanging Hardware

For this, we used one sawtooth hanger. Put a nail in your wall, and hang it up!

Hooray! Now you have a cute place to put those pesky loner socks. It really helps me to keep my laundry room organized. Every little bit helps!

As always, if you have questions, or need help, feel free to leave a comment below!

Warmly,
Megan