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You might remember that we painted our house this past summer. Part of our home’s face lift included taking down the thick, bulky wooden house numbers and replacing them with more streamlined numbers.
For some reason, I had been procrastinating this job for a while. (This is most likely due to my issue with perfectionist procrastination…I knew I wanted to take my time to make sure that everything was centered and level, so I kept putting it off because I could never find “enough” time to focus on this particular task, uninterrupted.)
It was while I was playing this waiting game that I thought of a quick and easy way to hang house numbers! In fact, it was SO quick and easy that I kicked myself for waiting so long.
All you have to do is find a strip of lightweight cardboard (I used part of a Pepsi box) and cut out a piece that will fit your house numbers. (These are the house numbers we used, but if we had painted our house a different color I would have LOVED these).
My house numbers were the perfect size for one side of the Pepsi box, so I cut on one line and I used the uncut side as my reference for “level”
Line up your house numbers exactly how you want them on the cardboard, paying attention to the slant and spacing of the numbers (yes, I know these weren’t ready. Haha.). This is when you make sure the numbers are level and spaced exactly how you want them. Pull out a ruler if you need one!
Then, before taking the numbers off the cardboard, use a fine point pen (I used an Ultra Fine Sharpie) to make a dot in the screw holes for each number.
Once that is done, head outside and tape up the cardboard exactly where you want your numbers to sit, making sure everything is still level. Then tape the cardboard to the house (be sure to use painter’s tape so that you don’t peel off your brand new paint job!)
Using a drill bit that is just slightly smaller than the provided screws, drill a pilot hole where each of the dots sit on the cardboard. After removing the cardboard you will have something that looks like this:
As a sidenote: I was always uncomfortable using a handheld drill. I never seemed to get enough pressure to do the job right, I stripped screws, etc. Then I realized it was because we were using a puny discount drill. Once we bought this drill, it was a complete game changer. I love using my drill for everything now!
Okay….back to the tutorial.
The last step is to line up each number to its corresponding pilot holes, then secure them to the wall with the provided screws using a screwdriver or a drill with a driver bit.
And there you have it! I was able to hang these numbers (and take the pictures for this post) in less than ten minutes. I’ve also done something similar with a painter’s tape template for hanging pictures.
Have you ever made a cardboard template for something like this before? Am I just late to the game? Let me know in the comments below!
I hope that I’ve saved you some minutes so that you can go out and savor some moments!