Pinterest Inspirations

Today I'm gonna share 3 painted signs that I made.

1 for my sister in law (SIL), Christi

1 for my best friend, Connie

1 for me

Yes, it really is!

Anyway on to my project - it was my SIL that persuaded me to try this & she really wanted this sign that she saw on pinterest.

 

See that one in the middle - "You are my Sunshine"

That's the one.

Her request was that it be a gray background with white letters.

I also found these on pinterest as inspiration:

So my next job was to figure out how I was going to tackle this project.

I had read that you can use contact paper on your cricut (or any other cutter) & use that as a stencil.

So I figured I'd give it a try.

Step 1 - Purchase supplies

At my local Home Depot I purchased:

• 1 - 2'x4' (1/2" thick) board, had them cut it down into 3 equal pieces (roughly 16"x24" & later Steve cut them all down to 16"x16")
• 2 cans gray primer spray paint
• 2 cans gray semi gloss spray paint
• 2 cans black semi gloss spray paint
• 1 can (quart size) can white gloss paint
• 1 roll contact paper

At my local Wal-Mart I purchased:

• 1 package sawtooth picture hangers
• 1 can clear gloss spray paint

 Step 2 - Gather supplies

• Besides all of the purchased supplies I needed paint brushes, sand paper, an exact-o knife & my cricut.

Step 3 - Prepare boards

1.  Sand boards, apply 1st coat of primer, let dry for 12-24 hrs.
2. Sand boards, apply 2nd coat of primer, let dry for 24 hrs.
3. Sand boards, apply 1st coat of final color (gray or black depending on board), let dry for 24 hrs.
4. Sand boards, apply 2nd coat of final color, let dry for 24 hrs.

**each time I sanded I went to a finer grit sandpaper.

Step 4 - Cut out words

1. I used the cricut craft room to cut out the words I needed for each board.

**Prior to this step I had figured out how big each word needed to be to fit on a 16"x16" board & how each one would be laid out.

Step 5 - Paint words

1. After cutting out each word or phrase I removed the paper backing on the contact paper & placed them on the boards.
2. Using a paint brush, paint over the stencils with the white paint, let dry for 1 hr.
3. Repeated step 2 two more times, with 1 hr dry time in between coats.

Step 6 - Remove stencils

1. Carefully remove each stencil

**I had a few issues with the paint coming off with the stencils, this is where I used the exact-o knife to help remove the stencils.

Step 7 - Touch up

1.  I went back and touched up the paint around the letters.

2. Spray with clear gloss sealer, let dry for 12-24 hrs.

Step 8 - Finish

1.  Attach picture hangers to back of board
2. Ready to hang, give or sell

 

I think they turned out very nice and the ladies seemed to like them.

I think I need some new font choices - one of the reasons I'm not 100% happy with my cricut (cartridges are $30+)

The only critique that Steve had was to make sure I did the centers on all of the letters (like the a, e, o, r, p, g, etc.)

What things inspire you?