project time

today i completed quite possibly my MOST favorite project ever(and there have been more than i can count!).

 i have always had a love affair with signs...the older and more beat up...the better. a while ago, i started seeing the word grocery and/or groceries on signs placed in the kitchen and i  L.O.V.E.D. them! 

frugalfarmhousedesign.blogspot.com

bringrestoration.blogspot.com

i wanted one. but...i didn't have one of those fancy silhouette machines that many people use to make their words...and when i try and paint a straight line(even when tracing something) it comes out looking like either...

a. hutton did it

b. i had one too many glasses of wine while painting

but today at the goodwill, i came across a plain good sized board(the tag said ikea and i think it was supposed to be a shelf because it came with two brackets)for $1.81 i decided i would attempt to make my OWN grocery sign. can't never could, right? :)

 i started with this...

 first i stained the wood a walnut color.

 next came a coat of white paint that i brushed on lightly.

 (oops..i guess i forgot to take a picture of that...in all my excitement)

ok. that was easy. then i just stared at the wood...trying to figure out what to do next. 

 i went into word on my computer and changed my font to 500, printed out one letter(G) and placed it on the board. it looked about the right size..so i continued with the rest of the letters.

 then i attempted to space them out evenly...bahahahahahaha

(not my strong point)

 the next step was my experiment. i THOUGHT i had remembered reading on a blog somewhere that if you rub the back of the letter with a pencil, when you flip it over and trace it, the pencil comes off and you have a perfect letter. 

crossing my fingers...i started tracing. and when i pulled that letter off and there was a perfect G...i screamed. IT WORKED.

 i continued with the rest of the word, and when i was done...i had to admit...it looked awesome. for my first time, the spacing was pretty accurate and none of the letters were much taller or shorter than their neighbor! 

 all i had to do now was paint. which was hard. and took me about an hour(maybe more???).

 but when i was done...my sweet sign looked like this!

 and after some distressing....

 i am TOTALLY in love...

 not bad for $1.81 and some time!