A SIGN IS BORN …
I had fun making this sign for Christmas this year. Firstly, because I love it’s message. I chose words that represent the true meaning of Christmas – the much loved Bible verse says it all – John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much, that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him, would not perish, but have everlasting life.”
I had these 3 pieces of rustic wood from a pallet I’d pulled apart, so I joined them together across the back with 3 strips of thin wood screwed in place.
Painted it with a white undercoat, then top coat of DIY chalk paint in Dulux Raw Cotton.
I’ve been using this chalk paint recipe from In My Own Style using the Plaster of Paris method.
Then I printed out the words in the fonts I wanted and placed them all out on the board to place them exactly how I wanted them. This was the tricky part. If you are cluey with Photoshop, this would’ve been easier, but I don’t have it on my home computer, so I just did it in a word program. Getting the font to a large size that stretches right out to line up with the end of each side margin took a bit of time.
Using carbon paper under the pages, I traced around the edges of each letter. Obviously very important to keep it still at this stage … and to line up your words so that they’re straight. I could’ve done better by using a ruler, as I did have a couple of slightly crooked lines.
I traced over the carbon print letters with a fine Sharpie marker. You may not need to do this step, but I thought it would give a better definition to the outline of the letters, especially when it came to painting them – ie. easier to paint inside the well defined lines.
Let the painting begin! I used black acrylic paint.
I enjoyed this part and did it over about 3 sessions as my hand would start to ache after a while (that, AND the fact that I did this in between taking kids to and from school, going to work and cleaning my house ready for a 12 year old sleepover – LOL)
I left to dry really well overnight and then sanded the edges and sanded over the letters for an aged, grunge effect (I was a bit scared to do this as the letters looked so bold and well defined, but I went for it).
Now I just need to get my Christmas decor out of the boxes and start decorating!!
For those of you who follow my blog, I have just uploaded another video recently showing you how I transfer my French graphics onto wood with Mod Podge. Click or check out the video links along the side panel of my blog.
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