Thursday, December 9, 2010

Vintage Christmas Sign

I was so excited when both boys napped at the same time the other day that I ran down to the workshop and started to look around to see what I could "craft" in an hour.  I found some scrap wood that used to be a top of a coffee table and thought it would make for a good sign.  I also had some vintage looking Christmas prints that I had saved from an old calendar.  I had no idea what I was doing but recently I had seen a tutorial at Funky Junk Interiors on how to distress signs.

Here is the before shot and how I winged it  a tutorial on how I did it:
I started by spray painting the sign black. 
 And than white...
I tried pulling off the white paint with a tape to distress it and it worked a little.
I used modge podge glue on both sides of the calendar sheets to adhere and seal them onto the wood.
I brushed on some "Honey Brown" acrylic paint on to match the colour of the calendar sheets.
I than thought I would crackle the sign, so I brushed on some crackle medium and when it dried I added a coat of red paint.  
It worked in a few spots but I didn't like the overall look of the sign.  So I roughly brushed on some white acrylic paint all over the sign including over the prints lightly and I liked it much better.
I still didn't think it was distressed enough so I tried using regular clear masking tape but it didn't pull enough paint off.  I saw some "Tuck Tape" nearby and decided to give that a shot...
And it worked beautifully!  It revealed a teal colour underneath...not sure how that happened?  
I am not 100% in love with it but I do think I successfully made a sign and made it look old.  I think its missing some hardware of some sort or needs to hang somewhere.  I also like the fact that it didn't cost me anything to make.  What do you think?  I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.  This project would be a great way to use up Christmas cards and scrap wood...I am going to try this again...

I am linking to one of my favourite blogs Centsational Girl and her Christmas craft linky party and Crazy Domestic's Linky Party

4 comments:

  1. Nicely done! Yes, just do another and try a diff technique, that's the best way to figure out what works for you.

    Thanks for the reference, much appreciated! Glad my post inspired you. :)

    Donna
    http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

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  2. You did that while the boys were sleeping?!?!? You ARE good! Keep up the good work.... ;)

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  3. OK, Lissa, Now I know you are amazing to do this while the boys were napping! OK I have to get off this site and do some studying but I'll be back!

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  4. Just found this. I think it looks great. Thanks for the step by step!!!

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