Numbered Mailbox

Do you have projects around the house that you keep putting off?  Me too and this was one of them. Our mailbox was in desperate need of replacing.

About  3 months ago the flag fell off. With the use of duct tape, I was able to make it work for about another week. Then, the tape became useless and so did I. Instead of replacing it, I would just drive to the post office to drop off our out going mail. A couple times, I even wedged the old flag in the front of the mailbox hoping the mailman would get the hint. Yes people, this is laziness at it’s best.

Finally, it was time. I had put it off long enough. I just had to get a new one. So I headed off to Lowes and bought the cheapest one I could find. To jazz it up a bit, I decided to painted our house number on it.

First, I printed out the letters and number out on plain white copy paper. Then, they were traced onto freezer paper.

Next, using an x-acto knife, I cut out each piece to create a stencil.

With the help of these floating hands, I taped the stencils to the mailbox.

After testing some different types of paints on the bottom of the mailbox, I realized none of them were going to stick unless I sanded first. So using a pencil wrapped with sandpaper I roughed up each letter and number.

Because I don’t have one of those fancy spouncers, I use a regular old sponge brush to apply white exterior latex paint. This type of paint seemed to adhere the best.

Finally, I removed the stencils and voila. I have a numbered mail box.

I am really happy with the results. I think our mail man will be please to no longer be notified we have outgoing mail like this:

What projects on your to-do list do you keep putting off?