Monday, August 15, 2011

Here's Your Sign!

The other title for this post could have been: How To Take A Simple Project & Complicate the Hell Out Of It... you've been warned.

Let me start off by saying, I LOVE Pinterest!!!
 
If you know what Pinterest is, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. (And you can find me here, I have some pretty cool boards!)  If you don't have a Pinterest, email me and I'll send you an invite! 

Alright, back to business. 

I have a Pinterest board where I have a lot of inspirational quotes.

source


I loved this quote as it brought back a childhood memory of sliding down a mud hill with my brother, Jonathan and our cousin, Shane. We had a blast until the grown ups found out what we were up to and ruined our fun.


Of course I had to come up with a way to use this awesome quote.


I used it to make a laundry room sign!


Okay, so I don't technically have a laundry room but I do have a laundry area and I think this looks great hung up next to my clothespin mirror.
  


Wanna see how I totally screwed it up did it?

Supplies:
wood piece (or whatever you're painting your sign on) 
ink (do NOT use ink unless you want to use the sander... trust me)
paint
paintbrush
crackle medium
stencil or contact paper to make your stencil
sander (optional - in case you screw up) 
pendleton & pepsi (optional - in case you screw up)
a few choice curse words (optional) 



I started with a blank wooden sign plaque that I got at Michael's. 


 I painted a base coat of basic white paint. 


When that was dry, I painted two coats of Desert Turquoise. 



When my sign was good and dry, I applied the stencil that I'd cut out on contact paper using my Awesome Silhouette Machine. I used a brown stamp pad and paper towel to apply the stenciled design.



Once my design was applied, I peeled the stencil off. And let it dry. 


Now here's where things went horribly, horribly wrong...

I wanted to apply a crackle and use either the ink or paint to stain the sign, but as soon as I applied the crackle, the ink smeared EVERYWHERE. I really should have known better, especially since I did buy a really cheap ink pad. Amazing Boyfriend thought I should have known better because I have an amazing talent for taking really simple projects and complicating the hell out of them.

So what's a girl to do?

Bust out the sander (for the first time ever!), sand it down and start again. I did all the same steps, but this time, I used craft paint. Then I used crackle, then paint and antiquing medium to stain the sign and make it look kinda dirty. I was so happy with how it looked! Just how I wanted it to turn out...

almost...


Do you see it?


Seriously?!?!

When it was drying, one of Amazing Boyfriend's friends was over visiting and pointed out my spelling error. ABF looked at me with a funny little look, knowing that by this point I probably just wanted to chuck the damn thing in the creek behind our house to destroy the evidence. I just sighed, knowing that I was going to spend more bonding time with the sander, because I was bound and freakin' determined to do it right this time!

So I sanded it down (again), realized that I should just flip the damn thing over and paint the other side, painted it (again), applied crackle (again) and antiqued it (again). This time victory was mine!!!




See, I told you I'm really good at taking an easy project and complicating the hell out of it!


This project was featured:




I'm sharing this project at the following link parties:
































24 comments:

  1. aww sweetie. I know that feeling of defeat you had.. I would have chucked it ;-)

    It is cute though!

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  2. I feel your pain & frustration. Reminds me of my clock project when I drew the wrong roman numeral and only found out at the end.UGHHHHH. (ps. bf fixed the hands last week and it now hangs in the kitchen ~ yay!)

    definitely worth the extra effort - the sign turned out awesome!!

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  3. Aww Beffy. I love you so much. =)

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  4. Oh no, I feel your pain! Even though it was kind of a mess at one point, the end product was so wonderful! I love that saying, by the way!

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  5. Great quote (so true, too), and excellent sign! I'm always looking for ways to spruce up my laundry room...I'll have to remember this when I actually HAVE a laundry room again!

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  6. LOVE LOVE LOVE!! And would love it if you would link this up to my new turquoise linky party!! http://www.sweetlittlegals.com/2011/08/turquoise-lovin-1.html

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  7. This is sooo cute! And what a cute post. Sounds like something I'd do! But you showed great perseverance, and I think it was totally worth it. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  8. Third time's a charm? Yea, probably not what you want to hear but it turned out awesome!!

    -Kim @ Camiesoles and Cammies

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  9. Love that you shared that you misspelled it the first time! Makes us all REAL! Thank you for linking to Wicked Awesome Wednesday!

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  10. Popped over from Handy Man, Crafty Woman....love the sign!!

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  11. I absolutely love this cute!! Sorry your project turned into a hassle, I seem to have that same gift! ;) The good news is--you still won! :) Good job sticking to it. hehe!

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  12. That's a fantastic quote! My son and I were just painting together this morning and I told him, "You can always tell it's been a good day when there's paint all over us." Same idea. :) And it's so true. Nice sign...sorry it turned out to be such a pain of a project for you. You'd never know!

    Amy
    oneartmama.blogspot.com

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  13. Love the quote, and I envy your perseverance! It came out lovely!

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  14. Cutest quote-worth the extra effort-that happens to me too-I'm your newest follower! stop over for a visit!!

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  15. Haha! Too cute! What a great quote - very true by the way! Thanks for linking up!
    Ellie

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  16. Great sign! I'm pinning it, then hopefully soon attempting it!! -your newest follower!! :)

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  17. another amazing project! Please come and show what you have been up to at Tuesday Talent Show at Chef In Training Tomorrow! Thanks so much and I hope to see you there!
    -Nikki
    http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/

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  18. I love that quote and pinterest! Thanks for linking up
    Emily
    domesticdeadline.blogspot.com

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  19. This is totally true! I had to walk home today because my car died on me, so naturally I sweated like a hog. I'm on round two for clothes :-)

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  20. Oh my gosh- I am cracking up! I am so sorry that you had such a heck of a time making this sign! The quote is darling and if it makes you feel any better, it turned out so cute! We are going to be featuring this on Saturday, so come and grab a button if you want one! We would love to have you link up again this weekend!
    Camille @
    SixSistersStuff.blogspot.com

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  21. I love this project and I love your sense of humor. Your blog is SO FUNNY!

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  22. Funny how these simple ideas turn into such a mission! Love that quote too!

    Alyssa
    www.SweetSewnStitches.com

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