do what you LOVE what you do

October 4, 2011 in Bedrooms, Building and Repurposing, Wall Decor

Way back in May ‘The Lettered Cottage’ made an awesome sign for their mantel! I loved the idea. It seemed totally doable… or if your name is Christy you’d probably say “totes” doable. So I pinned it (I heart pinterest) and tucked it away for a rainy day project.
Fast forward about two weeks and I headed off to Lowes to buy the furring strips and thin strips. Game on.

I had a spot in mind for the sign and had already measured to find the width to fit the space. I cut all my strips down to that measurement and then laid them out to decide what sign height felt right….

Yup… I’m busted. Obviously I worked on this sign several months ago… I just hadn’t posted about it here for you yet. Evidence A – the partially sanded table pictured above that is currently staring at me front the kitchen all finished up (seen here).

Once I had the height and width I constructed my frame exactly the same way Lettered Cottage did. Easy as pie. Have I mentioned I don’t really agree with the statement “easy as pie”?  I mean, I’m sure they’ve been saying that phrase for far longer than ready-made pie crusts have been sold in stores. So really, how EASY was pie really when they first started saying it?  Probably not very easy. … but I digress.  Back to the sign!

Here’s a look at the structure from the back:

I built the frame using wood glue, a couple of 2″ brad nails and some wood screws. The slats were then attached using small brad nails. Then I stained the front side. Hindsight – I wish  would have stained the frame BEFORE attaching the slats.  From the front, if you get close you can see that the frame is unfinished. It doesn’t REALLY irk me, but if I thought about it long enough it would. The problem was it was SO hard to get the stain down in between those slats.

Then I broke out my trust $5 yard sale steal-of-a-deal overhead projector. I whipped up my design on the computer, printed it on a transparency sheet and projected it on the sign. This is where I got brave. Rather than trace the letters onto the sign I sat there painting with nothing more than the light of the projector to guide me. Talk about holding your breath!

…and here she is after one coat of Annie Sloan’s Old White Chalk Paint:

I wasn’t worried about even coverage because I knew I’d be taking the sanding block to the letters for a distressed finish.

I’m sorry I couldn’t take that photo from further out, but that would have ruined the reveal of my finished bench and some fun lighting. Patience!

If you want the design for your own projects, here’s a PDF you can simply print it off using the link below and get to work!

bedroom sign 5

I made another sign for my sister and will have her snap a photo of it in her gorgeous living room. I was nothing more than grunt work… it was her concept, her design, and her painting. All I did was slap it together.    …………and I think you’ll love it.

…and as always, if you decide to make your own sign I would LOVE to see your version!  Send me a link to your post or even email me a photo – craftedniche{at}gmail{dot}com  Maybe we could start featuring them here at CraftedNiche and on Facebook to get people’s confidence and creativity up!  Don’t be afraid… just jump right in!

 

 

Be sure to check out all the awesome link parties where I’ll be linking up this week!

Huge thanks go out to Lines Across My Face for featuring this project!

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