House number tiles

21Jan2013

Happy New Year, everyone! Sorry for my long absence. One of my New Year Resolutions is to blog more often, so here it goes. This is a project I finished more than two years ago. I finally got around to blogging about it. I hope you like it.

Inspired by house numbers spotted at a salvage yard.

A reader, Josie, emailed me quite a while ago asking for uses for leftover tiles. Subway tile nameplates was the first idea that came to mind, but I also thought 4-inch tiles would make excellent house numbers.

The idea was inspired by the house number tiles (at left) that Sarah from Sunset magazine found at a salvage yard years ago. She described them as “sunny and Parisian,” which is the look I tried to achieve with my Santiago numbers (above).

I had so much fun creating DIY house numbers that I got a little carried away. I finally stopped at 10 different sets. I based my Santiago house numbers on Karen Barbé’s gorgeous handcrafted textiles. I designed Stanford for the university town in which I used to live. Apple is a tribute to the late Steve Jobs, modeled after the classic keys of an Macintosh computer keyboard. Treehugger is for all you folks who love natural wood. New York is based on the actual colors and numbers of the NYC subway lines (except, of course, that an 8 line and 0 line don’t actually exist). Any guesses on what Squirrel is based?

Download all these designs below after the jump.

How to make house number tiles

Supplies and tools

4-inch white ceramic tiles
Outdoor Mod Podge
medium paintbrush
Scotch foam mounting squares
Krylon UV-Resistant Clear Acrylic Coating
(Do not use the Minwax/Helmsman brand shown in the photo above. It turns yellow.)
printed house number designs
scissors
newspaper or drop cloth
4-inch rubber brayer (optional)

1. Cut out your house numbers. Be sure to cut off the black lines. Apply a generous coat of Outdoor Mod Podge directly to the tile, then position the paper design on top. Using a brayer, your fingers, or the side of a pen, smooth down the design. Flip the tile over and apply more glue to the underside of the paper edges that are sticking out. Use your fingers to wrap the edges around and smooth them down. Smooth out the excess glue. Repeat for all tiles. Let dry 10-15 minutes.

2. Apply two more coats of the glue on the top of the designs, letting dry 15-20 minutes between coats. Let dry overnight.

3. Apply two topcoats of clear coat to seal and protect your designs from UV and moisture damage. Allow to dry 20-30 minutes between coats. Let dry overnight.

4. Affix one mounting square to each corner on the back of the tile. Secure to the wall of your house. You’ll want to hang them in a covered area out of the weather because, while they are water and UV resistant, they are neither waterproof nor sun proof. And I haven’t yet tested their longevity.

Download the designs

Choose just one set of numbers—or mix and match from different sets!

Download TREEHUGGER »

Tags: decoupage, paper, repurpose

15 Comments »

Ina Northern-Town said,

January 21, 2013 at 5:12 pm

That’s a fantastic project! Thanks for sharing!
AJ said,

January 22, 2013 at 5:09 am

Thanks for sharing this great project! AJ@queenofmynest
Anne V said,

January 22, 2013 at 7:53 am

Thanks so much for this! I am especially drawn to the Stanford tiles, as my son was there this past summer!
Kristin said,

January 22, 2013 at 8:52 am

This looks great! I love it. Wish my house number wasn’t so long or I’d try this =)
Elaine said,

January 22, 2013 at 4:44 pm

squirrel reminds me of font from Rocky the squirrel cartoon?
Collette said,

January 24, 2013 at 12:26 pm

Thank you so much for sharing this project…your designs are lovely!
Wall Clock Store said,

February 5, 2013 at 4:24 am

Absolutely love these!! I can see this range costing me a bit of money. Not only for me but gifts for friends.
Lena A. said,

February 8, 2013 at 6:33 am

Hi!
It´s very nice of you to give free printings!
How about Letters?
I live at nº 3-A
Love your Blog.
Kisses from Portugal!
jennifer claypoole said,

March 1, 2013 at 7:02 pm

Such a cute project. I link it over to craftsbyjen.com with a link back to get all the details.
Monica said,

March 6, 2013 at 5:55 am

Nice idea for a beautiful home…
Jacqui said,

April 6, 2013 at 3:38 am

I actually love the idea and your designs are really good especially for this season. This is a good accent and a great way to make house numbers much more attractive.
Jennifer said,

April 7, 2013 at 9:46 am

What a fun and creative project to make your house so much more beautiful. The ideas are endless to customize them for your families home. I would love to try this technique with a few from my neighborhood, it would make a great party or get together. Thanks for this blog post!
ODETTE said,

April 11, 2013 at 11:23 am

These are so great. We love the Santiago. Just wish there were a way to put your number into the pattern you like to create a variety of colors in your address. My address numbers are similar colors.
monica said,

April 14, 2013 at 5:13 pm

ODETTE-Tell me what numbers and patterns you want. I might be able to make a personalized download for you.
Dorothy Lunsford said,

April 20, 2013 at 2:15 pm

Thank you for sharing. You are so clever. I love your ideas, and wish I had a clever bone or two. I appreciate your talents, keep-em coming.