Many Smiles

Recently, I was asked to make a custom sign for a sweet Texan lady. She saw a sign on Pinterest and wanted something similar but with southern charm. ;)
The inspiration sign came from a really sweet blog called Team Turnbow, which I discovered, today.
She offers cricut directions for making this sign.  I don't have a cricut machine, so I have directions for those who are cricut-less.

source: Pinterest

Maybe, I should show you my finished sign, first...

I changed "YOU" to Y'ALL"! I love it! 

It reminds me of a vintage Coca Cola sign. 

Now, that's a Southern sign!

You can change the words up for your version. You can change just the last word or the word smile to something else. What's important is that it fits you. 

Make It:

First, I went to my favorite store......LOWES to get my wood board. You can find boards of various sizes, there. I usually buy 4'x8'x.5" sheets, since I use all the wood. You can have them cut it to the size you want, too. I learned how to use a circular saw, so I just had them cut it in half, so I could fit it in my car.

When  I got home I cut a 30"x40" piece. 

Prep:

Sanded the edges.

Brush the dust off with my little dustpan broom.

You will need satin paint in the color of your choice. 

Brush on 2 coats of paint to cover the whole board. Paint the sides if you don't want to frame your sign.

Words:

* You have to work from right to left with this one. For example, I started with the letter "F" in the top right corner. Work your way to the left. I know, I know! Not like it isn't already a huge task. But well worth it. 

I only had Helvetica style stencils, that can be found at your hardware stores. Unfortunately, they have gaps in each letter, so they're not solid letters. I hand-painted each "gap" only to realize, afterward, that I could have used painter's tape to cover the "gaps" and make them solid letters! I know better, now. 

I used 6" letters on the 1st row, 8" letters on the 2nd row, and 3" letters for the 3rd row.

The last row, I hand drew. However, you can print it out on legal size paper, letter by letter, and trace onto board with tracing paper.

It took 3 coats of acrylic paint to do each letter.

The crazy thing about my style of signs, is how I mess it up after I paint it! Yep.

You can skip the distressing part if you like it the way it looks at this point.

Distressing:

Now, that all the letters are in place, take a medium grit sanding block and sand your little heart away. Make the letters look worn and gritty. I like it to look like I found this "old" sign on the side of the road. Like a discarded vintage gem! Ok, back to the task at hand...

Once you have it as worn-out looking as you like, then pour an antiquing glaze (also found at LOWES in the paint section) in raw umber color or use acrylic paint mixed with equal parts water and pour in a disposable cup. 

Dip a trim paint brush in the glaze/acrylic mix and wipe excess off on the rim. Then, brush all around the edges of the sign. Use a damp rag to dab where you brush so it looks more muddled and not brush-stroky.

Brush some on the letters and dab some more. Keep doing this till you are happy with how gritty you made it look. 

*don't forget about the sides of the board if you're not adding a frame.

You can build a frame around it like I did. I used hardwood (oak) 1"x2" to make the frame. 

Making a frame is a very difficult task that I will share how to do in the future. 

Most of my signs are unframed and look good that way,too. You can opt to paint the sides black.

Hanging:

You can screw in a heavy duty picture hanging wire set on the back. You must hang this on anchored screws or a picture wire hanger (found at Hobby Lobby). 

FYI: expect this take, without making frame, about 6-8 hrs to make (add another 3 hrs for the frame). There is a lot of time involved in the  hand-painting and distressing. It's worth it, though. 

Now, this is going to Texas to hang proudly and, hopefully, bring many smiles to y'all's faces! 

Handmade Gift Wrap Trimmings

I am a big believer in "it's in the packaging." You can take an inexpensive gift and make it look fabulous with beautiful gift wrapping. I also think plain brown paper wrapping is beautiful, especially when you add pretty trimmings. The brown paper is a neutral background for all your "pretties."

I found some faux pine needle "pipe cleaners" at my local craft store (Hobby Lobby) on sale for $.99/pkg. I was initially going to make german style wreaths with them, but just haven't had the time. Maybe, next year. So, instead, I made personalized initials with them. I really like how they turned out. I also had some tinsel ($1 at Dollar General) that I thought would make a sparkly "ribbon" to wrap my gifts. Finally, I found a bag of white pom poms (from Hobby Lobby) in my craft box and thought I could add those to jute twine for a cute trimming.

Let me show you how I made these simple lovelies:

1st you need to gather some supplies from around your home

scissors, pliers, ribbon, pine needle pipe cleaners, jute twine, tinsel garland, a gift box

Let's start with how to make the Pine Needle Initials. You will need your pliers to cut the wire on the pine needle pipe cleaners. Your pliers usually have a cutter on them, like scissors. Open them up and you will see it. Take some of your pipe cleaners and cut them in half, some in thirds, and some in fourths. This way you have different lengths for making different letters. 

For letters like E, F, I, I used 3-4 pieces in different sizes. For example, on the E I used on longer piece for the side and two shorter pieces for the top and bottom and center piece. Just attach the different pieces by bending the wire around the longest piece till it holds.

On letters like C, D, M, I just cut off what I didn't need after I formed the letter by bending the pipe cleaner to make the letter shape. 

this is the letter C ready to have jute twine added for hanging

Once, you have your letters made, cut some jute twine to desired length for hanging the initials to your gift wrap.

Wrap the twine once and then tie a knot.

And voila! Add it to your gift wrapping as personalized trim. For those who have the same initials, I am adding 2 letters; their 1st and last. Then. they can use them next year to hang in their home on knobs hooks for a custom look. 

I also made mini wreaths with them by using a plastic bottle I had in my kitchen, but any rounded form, that's the size you want,  will do. Wrap the green around the bottle and twist the ends together. Then, slide the wreath off the form. Cut off the excess pipe cleaner and your done. You have a cute little wreath to hang on your gifts for trim. 

I had the extra packages of tinsel garland and thought they would make great ribbon for wrapping gifts. I love the vintage charm of tinsel! 

sparkly goodness!

So, then, as I was rummaging through my craft box, making all this pretty trim, I found my forgotten white pompoms. I knew I had the jute twine out so I thought it would make a cute tie for my Christmas gifts. Cut a piece of twine the length you want the tie to be. I wrapped it around my gift box to get the desired length.  I used an embroidery needle with a big "eye" so the twin could be threaded. After threading the twine, I ran it through a pompom. tie a knot at the end and cut off excess and pull pompom to knot and then repeat for the other end of the twine. then wrap around your gift box and tie in a bow. Just a little added whimsy to any gift. You can use any color pompom or even some colored embroidery floss for even more sass.

I added a pine needle initial to one of my burlap stockings, too, as an afterthought. It looks charming, don't you think?

Happy Making!

pam