My husband had the idea for a personalized sign for our friend's birthday coming up in April. Some background, he lives in the town of Penbrook and has a bar in his basement. Over the past few months they have lived there, it has been dubbed "Penbrook Country Club." :-) I looked at a few options online for personalized signs and all of them came in at $30 and above, the ones I considered were about $50.
My best friend, Natalie, over at A Turtle's Life for Me had recently done a sign and used her cricut to cut out letters on contact paper and then used them as a reverse stencil. So, I thought I would give it a try and save some money while exercising my creativity.
I started with this piece of slate I bought for $4.50 at the thrift store.
I removed the rope hanger and painted it with two coats of black satin latex paint that I had already.
Once it dried, I headed to my bff's house (she lives two doors down, how lucky am I?) and she helped me use her cricut ( I want one, I really want one) to cut out the letters. Because I wasn't sure I could place the contact paper letters on straight, I measured and drew light lines with a pencil as a guide. Then, I carefully placed the letters on.
I decided then that I wanted to use some kind of textured spray paint. I ended up choosing the stone look (bought at the Home Depot). I sprayed two coats on the whole thing.
I will caution you, if you use the textured spray paint, it is extremely difficult to locate the contact paper to lift up. Luckily, I have pretty good eyesight. I also used a toothpick to aid with lifting up a small piece, so I could grab it and peel away the rest. I waited about an hour before I lifted the contact paper off. I wanted it to still be tacky, not fully dry.
And, here it is, in all of its glory! I am so proud of this and can't wait to give it to our friend on April 9th at his party! The whole project cost about $9, much better than the $50 I was prepared to spend originally. Yay for frugality!
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13 comments:
Bravo for frugality! Love the personalized sign. Handmade gifts are always so appreciated. Visiting you today from Debbiedoos Newbie party!
Haha!! That cracks me up that you want a cricut now!! Great job, girl! And, yes, your profile link is working now, it took me right back here to your page so people can follow you around!
Love it! I got here through Debbie's newbie party. I am going to follow you.
Very clever idea. I tell you there is so much creativity out here. Thanks for joining my newbie party, and welcome to blogging. I would love if you added my link to your post, so others can see it and know about it. Not a lot of people click on the party tabs to see where you have joined in.
Thank you so much for all of the comments! I will add a link, Debbie.
Oh, I love this sign! Great work!
I'm your newest follower, joining from the newbie party!
Fabulous sign! I wish I had a Cricut or a BFF with one! I am visiting from Debbie Doos and and I am your newest follower, hope you will stop by for a visit and follow me back.
Carol
Beautiful! Love the way this turned out and shout out to cricut users! I also love the cricut cake! Thanks for linking up at Unwasted Homemaking Party.
www.dontwasteyourhomemaking.com
Very cute! I'm sure he loved it!
I'm here from Debbiedoo's party. It's great to find your blog.
Have a great day.
Pam
What a funny idea for a friend. :-) I love it. Thank you for linking up to my Marvelous Mess party!! Hope to see you next week!! http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com
I just made my 1st sign too! Your's looks great. I love the textured paint.
Sure hope your friend doesn't read your blog before his birthday! LOL!
Great job!
It came out great!
Great idea! I love taking things we are not in love with and changing them into personalized and loved items! Thanks for the invite to your blog!
Jill of oursevendwarfs.com
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