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Slow and steady beats the aches
Oct. 11th, 2025 06:14 amThe next nationwide No Kings protest is one week from today, and I've been put in charge of signmaking again. It's a bigger job this time because my mother-in-law decided to come along, her first protest! It's only our third, but I learned a lot about what does and doesn't work for me the last two times I made signs.
The first thing was that I really don't like multi-colored letter stickers. I think they just look terrible and detract from the message being presented. It's a shame because they're cheap and so easy to use. Thankfully I found some that are white letters with black borders.
Another way I'm working smarter is by reusing our signs from the last No Kings. Not both sides, though, because Elon Musk was in the news last time and he's not really relevant this time. I like the other sides, though, so I'm gluing and stapling a second poster board over the Elon sides. They'll be sturdier and they should be easier to hold, too. And now I'm not limited to using a white background just because the original sign was white.
That brings me to another lesson: black posterboard is better than white. White will look dingy faster and the black background just has a much cooler look, especially when colored letters and black and white graphics are added. Colored paper letters are time consuming to glue in place, but they're easier to find than the stickers. At least, easier to find at the dollar stores, which is where I buy everything to keep the costs down.
That's another lesson, hit multiple dollar store locations because the stock varies a bit.
Finally, the most important thing I'm doing this time is spreading the work across multiple days, and sitting while I do it instead of standing. The last two protests, I set aside many hours and worked at the kitchenette counter downstairs. Making several signs all at once led to a sore neck, a sore back, sore hands, you name it. From now on, I'm doing one side of one sign per day, sitting, and it's at a big table we have set up in the garage. So far I've done two sessions, one for each side of Bev's sign. At the end of yesterday's session, I glued a new back to my sign and today I'll decorate it and glue a new back to Garrett's sign. Then I can finish it tomorrow.
The most important thing is to assume everything will take longer than you think. Normally that's a bad thing, such as when you're doing chores and are overwhelmed just by the thought of them. But unless you're constantly doing similar crafts, it's really easy to think it won't take very long to make a sign. It's harder than it sounds to make one that looks good, so just be ready to buckle down for a while.
I'm just glad the protest is at a more sensible time, 1pm. Last time it was at 4pm. We took the dogs to the dog bar for a while beforehand to kill some time but I'd really rather just do the thing and get it over with.
Hopefully the weather is good so the signs don't have to be retired after this next use.
Update: a regular stapler can't go through two layers of poster board so glue alone will have to do! Unless I find a big stapler laying around.
The first thing was that I really don't like multi-colored letter stickers. I think they just look terrible and detract from the message being presented. It's a shame because they're cheap and so easy to use. Thankfully I found some that are white letters with black borders.
Another way I'm working smarter is by reusing our signs from the last No Kings. Not both sides, though, because Elon Musk was in the news last time and he's not really relevant this time. I like the other sides, though, so I'm gluing and stapling a second poster board over the Elon sides. They'll be sturdier and they should be easier to hold, too. And now I'm not limited to using a white background just because the original sign was white.
That brings me to another lesson: black posterboard is better than white. White will look dingy faster and the black background just has a much cooler look, especially when colored letters and black and white graphics are added. Colored paper letters are time consuming to glue in place, but they're easier to find than the stickers. At least, easier to find at the dollar stores, which is where I buy everything to keep the costs down.
That's another lesson, hit multiple dollar store locations because the stock varies a bit.
Finally, the most important thing I'm doing this time is spreading the work across multiple days, and sitting while I do it instead of standing. The last two protests, I set aside many hours and worked at the kitchenette counter downstairs. Making several signs all at once led to a sore neck, a sore back, sore hands, you name it. From now on, I'm doing one side of one sign per day, sitting, and it's at a big table we have set up in the garage. So far I've done two sessions, one for each side of Bev's sign. At the end of yesterday's session, I glued a new back to my sign and today I'll decorate it and glue a new back to Garrett's sign. Then I can finish it tomorrow.
The most important thing is to assume everything will take longer than you think. Normally that's a bad thing, such as when you're doing chores and are overwhelmed just by the thought of them. But unless you're constantly doing similar crafts, it's really easy to think it won't take very long to make a sign. It's harder than it sounds to make one that looks good, so just be ready to buckle down for a while.
I'm just glad the protest is at a more sensible time, 1pm. Last time it was at 4pm. We took the dogs to the dog bar for a while beforehand to kill some time but I'd really rather just do the thing and get it over with.
Hopefully the weather is good so the signs don't have to be retired after this next use.
Update: a regular stapler can't go through two layers of poster board so glue alone will have to do! Unless I find a big stapler laying around.
