Signs, Signs, and More Signs

Fast on the heels of our stool project was the making of signs. Lots of signs. I decided that we had too many bare walls in our house and I was going to fix a few of those. Thank goodness Farmer John gave me a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas! I broke it out and created a few designs in my software and got to painting!

First, I decided to tackle a sign I'd been thinking about for months for our guest bathroom. I started by having Farmer John cut the pieces of wood I needed for all my ideas and then we lightly sanded to make a smoother finish. I then painted a layer of Antique White Chalk Paint by Color Rehab on my sign and let it fully dry. I then used my Cameo Silhouette to cut out a stencil from vinyl and applied it to the wood. First, I painted Mod Podge around the edges of the design to prevent bleeding and let dry. Then, I used black chalk paint for the words and design. Once it was tacky (not all the way dry as I didn't want the design to peel up when I removed the stencil), I peeled off the stencil and let it fully dry. A final spray with poly and wire hung on the back and it was done!!

Here it is hanging in it's new home. It looks smaller here than it does in person though!

Little Farmer T and Little Farmer G were itching to get their hands on some paint, so I decided that we could create some art for their room together. I created a few quick stencils of some camping themed designs for their room and let them help make their own signs. I started by painting a coat of antique white all over their boards and letting dry. I did these signs a little differently than the sign above. Instead of using the stencil to fill in with color, I used the vinyl like a giant sticker and let them just paint over the entire thing and then peeled off the letters, animals, etc.  So, after the white dried, I applied the animals, tent and wording and then applied Mod Podge again to the edges of the design. I then let them have at it! They each chose which color to use for their design and painted! I helped with a few small areas, but they really did most of it! Once they were tacky, I peeled off the vinyl and we let them finish drying and then sprayed them with poly and applied wire to the back to hang!

Little Farmer T was excited to do the tent! 

Little Farmer G's bear!   

I had a little help, but mommy did most of this one.

And, last, but not least, mommy decided that the kitchen needed one more sign...because, of course...who doesn't need more Sweet Tea and Sunshine?!? Especially this southern girl up here in western WA? 

I created this sign with the same method as the bath sign with only a couple of changes. I painted the entire sign with antique white first and then with mustard yellow that had been mixed with white a little to brighten it up. I then placed my stencil, Mod Podged (is that a word?!?), and painted each section of words the color I wanted. We let it dry and then I lightly sanded a few spots and used a spray poly before adding the wire to hang.

Here it is on the wall...one of my favorites!!

Slowly, but surely, we are making our way though the house and adding our own touches. It still has a long way to go, but we are getting there! 

Moving On

Me with my sign at the workshop.

This summer found us in the midst of change. Our juvenile chicks have grown and been processed and have found their new home at freezer camp. We, temporarily, said goodbye to our chicken farming and have moved on to other projects. The start of several projects was fueled by a fun afternoon at a Sign Painting Workshop at a local business, The Barn Door. I have always enjoyed crafting and am often doing small projects in my craft room: sewing, making goodies with the help of my Cameo Silhouette, etc, but this started larger projects than I have traditionally tackled.

It's up! Ignore the walls that
still need a coat of paint.

I made this adorable sign for our kitchen during the workshop to take home and was instantly inspired to continue creating! During the workshop, I decided to paint the sign first with a thin coat of red, followed by turquoise. The sign was then lightly sanded to make a little more of the red and raw wood show through and then I stenciled the words and painted the coffee mug. With a little help from the awesome owner, we attached the hooks and a wire to hang it from the wall and lightly sprayed the entire piece with poly. Voila! It was complete! Super easy and fun!

Shortly after making this piece, I found myself back at The Barn Door purchasing more of her paint, Color Rehab for my next projects: signs for the boys soon-to-be camping themed room, a couple more signs for the house, and to redo the barstools we inherited with the house that needed an update.   And, with an upcoming graduation party at our house for Farmer John's sister, what better time to complete them than when you only have a week before everyone shows up?!?

After prep work

First, the barstools. Because I was using chalk paint, I knew I didn't have to spend too much time sanding everything completely. It is supposed to be no-prep...how awesome is that?!?  However, these stools had had years of use and needed a thorough clean. So, I started by cleaning them with a degreasing cleaner to get off any grime and then lightly sanding a few rough spots to make sure I ended up with the finish I wanted. To the right is what they looked like after they had been cleaned and lightly sanded in any areas that needed it. I did the sanding outside to keep the mess to a minimum.

Next, I started the fun part - the paint! My plan was to use a mix of colors on the stool legs and white on the seats. So, I broke out my 5 color choices and got to it! I had chosen a mustard yellow, teal, red, blue and green as my colors. I used two coats of color on the legs of the stools. I possibly could have gotten away with one coat, but, let's face it...I have kids. So, two coats it was.

This was the green I started with. It was waaaaay darker than I was hoping.
So, I just added little white and got...

This! So. Much. Better.

Apparently Suzie didn't want to be left out of the pictures. 

After the legs were dry (super quick, I might add), I moved on to the seats. My plan was to use white, distress the whole piece a little and then seal with clear wax and use a little antiquing wax on the seats because, well...kids. I was thinking that a little "antiquing" might hide dirty finger smudges, etc.

Again, I did two coats of white on the seats and let dry. Then, I distressed all of the stools using a combination of hand and electric sanding. I then used the clear wax followed by a little antiquing wax and buffed.

This was the first result. I quickly decided that I had gotten a little more
antiquing wax than I wanted, so I applied more clear wax over the top and buffed some more.

That turned out better and was more what I was going for. 

The finished stools in their place!

I made the boys stay off of them completely for about 2 days and then we used them very lightly for about 30 days to allow them to fully cure. We finished up the barstools and moved on to our other plans for projects before company came....we might be a little crazy for tackling them all in such a short time, but I think we work well under pressure. Somehow, we always manage to finish the big projects in time!

However, after a couple months of use, the "antiquing" started to get to me. It didn't disguise the smudges from kids for me. It actually made me feel like they were dirtier than they really were. So, back to the drawing board again it was.

I ended up putting a single coat of fresh white chalk paint over the top. No prep after the wax. Really. All I did was take a damp cloth and wipe them down first. I ended up purchasing Polyvine Wax Finish Varnish Satin Finish in Clear  for another project (more on that later) and decided it was the perfect finish for the stools. It has a harder finish than wax, but a more warm feeling than poly. Plus, on the white, it is less likely to yellow over time than the poly and was super easy to work with. There was none of the bubbling that we fought when we used poly on our dining table and the kids toy bins.  I'm a huge fan of this stuff and it goes quite a long way. It also comes in a Dead Flat Finish, which I think would be perfect for projects where you don't want any sheen. I will be using it in the future, I'm sure. Two coats of the Polyvine finish and here is a closeup of the final product.

I love that there are still some very lightly distressed parts of the stools,
but they are literally so easy to clean. All I use now is a damp cloth and things wipe right off so
much better than the wax in the high kid traffic area.

Stay tuned for our next update where I will share a little about the signs we have made this summer and our other, larger projects! We are finally updating our little farm one step at a time!