Monday, March 8, 2010

$1 Welcome Sign

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Who would have thought that this old $1 Longaberger Basket sign could look so cool? Even though I quickly grabbed it up from the thrift store, I had no idea that it had so much potential.

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Whoever had painted it the first time around used some sort of crackle medium, because when I tried to paint over it, my paint became really transparent and slimy. I painted 3 coats of white to try to cover up the dark red and blue paint, and ended up with a relatively blank slate to do some stenciling. You could still see a little of the crackling, but it wasn’t nearly as big or obvious as it had been on the sign originally.

I printed off some different fonts and experimented with sizes up against the wood. Once I found one I liked, I sprayed it with a tacky stencil spray so that it would stick to the wood.

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I then traced the outline of the letters on the back of the paper in pencil, stuck the paper where I wanted it to be on the sign, and scribbled over the front of the paper so that the letter outlines were lightly rubbed onto the sign.

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I peeled the paper off and filled the letters in with a black acrylic paint. I then lightly sanded over the letters in the direction of the wood grain with a coarse sand paper. I stained the wood trim a dark oak color, and then painted over the letters and the white with an antique glaze, and quickly wiped it off. This is what I ended up with.

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The initial crackling came through beautifully once the wood was sanded a little bit, and the glaze filled the cracks in just enough to give it a perfect aged look. I even ended up with several large cracks through the letters, like this one through the E and L that I love.

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I started off with an old looking sign, and ended up with a sign that is old looking, but in a good way!

I'm linking this to the CSI Project.


Visit thecsiproject.com

53 comments:

Beth March 8, 2010 at 2:04 PM  

Erin, this is awesome...now I'll be on the hunt for a sign similar to this!

I'm Beth, Tiffany's sister, please to meet you and Patrice!

Tiffany March 8, 2010 at 3:45 PM  

LOVE this welcome sign. I want one! You did a fantastic job!

Amanda March 8, 2010 at 4:27 PM  

I love this! I've made one sign so far and have several others on my mind. Thanks for sharing!

Yvonne @ StoneGable March 8, 2010 at 5:43 PM  

Erin, You did a wonderful job on this sign. Good for you that you saw the possibilities in that sign. I would love to see where you hung it.
Yvonne

Lisa B. March 8, 2010 at 8:19 PM  

You did a great job! I would have probably given up after two coats. Found your blog on just something I whipped up.

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row March 8, 2010 at 10:16 PM  

You did a great job - I love it

Shannon March 8, 2010 at 11:53 PM  

Very cute. Love the vintage feel.

::cottage instincts:: March 9, 2010 at 7:05 AM  

Love me some 'vintage' painted signs!

Glad you could Mi4M :O)

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions March 9, 2010 at 10:05 AM  

Very clever! It looks great! I have a wood tray very similar {it came with Chocolates at the day job for Valentine's Day and I grabbed it!}. I never thought to make a sign with it though. Definitely, something to consider!

****** "M" March 9, 2010 at 10:48 AM  

Nice job!

~ ~ Ahrisha ~ ~ March 9, 2010 at 12:15 PM  

Wonderful tutorial! Thanks. Is it really that easy to get the pencil outline to transfer to the wood? I have got to try this.

Unknown March 9, 2010 at 12:44 PM  

I love it!!!!

Grace @ Ruby Moon Designs March 9, 2010 at 4:07 PM  

This is awesome! I love your sign!

Blessings, Grace

Julie March 9, 2010 at 5:22 PM  

Love it; classic look. Thanks for sharing with Made it Monday! Jules

Miss Mustard Seed March 9, 2010 at 9:43 PM  

Sooooooo much better as the welcome sign. You had a great eye to see the potential in that. Great buy and great transformation.

Reyna Meinhardt March 10, 2010 at 10:27 AM  

That is so neat! I love it! Thanks for sharing! This is my first time over at your blog, so I am excited to keep looking around!

Shaunna March 10, 2010 at 12:20 PM  

Great idea and so vintage! (which is very me, by the way:) found you through blue cricket today...so glad i popped over!

Anonymous March 10, 2010 at 9:38 PM  

Beautiful sign, your hard work really paid off!

Sandy March 11, 2010 at 1:49 AM  

LOVE it!! Thanks for sharing your talents!

Fawnda@Fireflies and Jellybeans March 11, 2010 at 8:46 AM  

Love it! love it! love it! great job!

extreme personal measures March 11, 2010 at 10:12 AM  

Love it!

Unknown March 11, 2010 at 12:46 PM  

Love this!! I just picked up an old "tacky" sign at the thrift store, too - so this post is perfect! Thank you!

Pink Roses and Teacups March 11, 2010 at 1:25 PM  

This is such a cute sign, and it came out awesome!

Debbie

gina March 11, 2010 at 1:39 PM  

very cool!

Sandy March 11, 2010 at 3:09 PM  

I really like this welcome sign.. I'm going to try your idea to make one of my own... thank you!

sandy

http://thewondersofdoing.blogspot.com/

Amy {The Red Chair Blog} March 11, 2010 at 6:22 PM  

Love it! Turned out great!

Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville March 11, 2010 at 6:57 PM  

OH! I LOVE that sign and its paint technique you used to create it. Thankyou for linking up all your fabulous ideas. I am happy to have you join in!

If you haven't already, be sure to enter the giveaway.

Have a wonderful weekend.
HUGS!
Leigh
Tales from Bloggeritaville
www.lbratina.blogspot.com

Leigh of Tales from Bloggeritaville March 11, 2010 at 6:58 PM  

I hope my comment went through

Tammy@InStitches March 12, 2010 at 7:55 AM  

Much better. I love it !

Frugal Home Designs March 12, 2010 at 7:57 AM  

I have always wondered how to make things look aged. You nailed it. It looks great.

Anonymous March 12, 2010 at 8:16 AM  

1927 Pattaya 6507 Thailand 6540

jamie March 12, 2010 at 8:47 AM  

Such a great transformation! I love it!

Kristin March 12, 2010 at 12:18 PM  

Gorgeous, I love it!

Erin March 12, 2010 at 6:48 PM  

Impressive how you made it look so old!

Carolyn @ My Backyard Eden March 12, 2010 at 7:36 PM  

That turned out so great. Definitely has the look of something in an expensive catalog!

Thanks for linking up to Make it Yours day!

Jade Creative March 12, 2010 at 7:57 PM  

Very well done!
Have a wonderful day
darlene

jen March 12, 2010 at 8:11 PM  

i love this -- i just bought a long wooden sign like this from tjmaxx for a dollar and it says homemade cinnamon buns -- really? who is going to put THAT in their kitchen? who makes those anymore?
so it's on the project list!

Maryann @ Domestically-Speaking March 12, 2010 at 9:31 PM  

Love the texture and depth it has... great job! Thanks for sharing it at the POPP.

Brooke March 12, 2010 at 9:52 PM  

This is fantastic. I love everything about it and would totally hang this in my home. I swear I have something like the "before" lounging around in my basement, now I know what I could do with it! Thanks for sharing, this is my first visit to your awesome blog, found you from Somewhat Simple's link party. Have a great weekend!

Anonymous March 12, 2010 at 10:40 PM  

Hey there, frokostordning was here :) best of luck !

Tricia March 13, 2010 at 10:56 AM  

What a gem you picked up there. I am so impressed. I am adding this to my Inspire My Saturday post today. Please feel free to stop by if you get a chance.
Happy weekend!

XO*Tricia

Mary Beth @ Live. Laugh. Make Something March 13, 2010 at 8:53 PM  

Great job! I love this project!

Amy Kinser March 13, 2010 at 10:12 PM  

You did a great job on your sign. Love it!

Andy Porter March 14, 2010 at 4:18 PM  

You've given it the perfect facelift! It looks awesome! I want it!

Heidi March 14, 2010 at 5:17 PM  

This really is great! loving this sign! what font did you use? I'm working on a sign & can't find a font that I like, but I really like this one!

Remodelaholic March 15, 2010 at 3:47 PM  

Hey Erin, this looks really great! I am planning on featuring this on my blog, I have been looking for a way to contact you and haven't found one. Anyway, since you linked it up to the party(and it says in the party post that I may feature your projects), I guess I will take that as the okay to feature it? Hope so!

Thanks

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Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com March 17, 2010 at 11:28 PM  

What a cool sign. I love how weathered it looks. You did a great job!!

Thanks so much for linking up to my party. I really appreciate it!

XOOX
Jen

LeeAnn@Encouragement Is Contagious March 20, 2010 at 11:34 PM  

You did an awesome job on that sign. I love it.

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Liz May 10, 2010 at 7:20 AM  

That IS cute! I can't wait to make my own. Thanks for the inspiration!

Liz
Loving This Mom Stuff

Mindy October 1, 2010 at 2:50 PM  

Thank you for the pencil trick. I am repurposing a stool and used that. Pictures are going to be posted soon.
http://mindy-thislittlelightofmine.blogspot.com/

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