Made this for my friend and her husband as a gift for their wedding that was today

Step 1: Getting the Right Witdh

I did not have a board wide enough to use so I decided to use two boards. I took the biscuit jointer and cut along the side of both baords.. I centered the cut in the side to prevent one side from breaking..(I didn't find out till later that you don't need to cut all the way down the board.. just every 6"...)

Step 2: Gluing

I then used the biscuits and glued the two boards together.. I screwed to strips together to keep the boards from bending while being clamped together..

Step 3: Prepping the Glued Boards

Once the boards have glued, I ran the glued piece through the planer to even it out

Step 4: Measuring for the Cross

After the board it level I marked the center tip and bottom, side to side of the board... I then went 3/4 to the right and left from the center of the board at the top.. next I went 2" and 1/2" from the center toward the top of the board.. I then erased the center line going from side to side... leaving the the image in the last pic.

Step 5: Cutting Out the Cross

This would be easier to do with a dado blade... but sadly I don't have one.. so what I did was make consecutive swips moving the board a little each swipe.. then taking a pry bar or chisel I knocked out the pieces that were left..

Step 6: Cut the Pieces for Cross

I then measured the slots to cut the 2x4 pieces for the cross.. placing them it to make sure that they fit...

Step 7: Gluing the Pieces

glue and clamp the pieces down

Step 8: Cut Off the Excess and Level

once the pieces have glued, I cut them off as close to the board as possible... once complete run through the planer to level up...

Step 9: Router and Sand

then I took the router with a rounding bit and round the edges... after rounding the edges of both front and back I sanded it down with 150 grit sandpaper...

Step 10: Optional Customization

print off your name or saying that you are wanting and use the carbon paper to trace it on to the piece of wood... then take the dremel tool with the carving bit to cut it out... I used black spray paint to paint the wording black... then sanded it off...