Family Sign

So the short version of "why I made this sign," goes something like this...

We have a family reunion every two years.  At the last one (or maybe it was the one before,) they had an auction to raise money to help cover reunion costs and to help cover the upkeep costs of the old family cemetary.  Good idea.  I definitely wanted to contribute this year, but wasn't sure what I might do.  Most items are "family" related so I came up with this sign!

 With images of a good-hearted bidding war going on in my head I started to work on the sign.  I collected the items I would need:

a ready made wooden sign board (Hobby Lobby - $6.99)

Chip Board Letters (Hobby Lobby - $ .99 each)

wood glue

gesso

acrylic paint

acrylic float

assorted brushes

paper towels

At Hobby Lobby, I tried out the chip board letters on the sign to make sure they would fit.  My current surname will not fit on the boards they offered at Hobby Lobby...maybe another craft supply store will have something or, gulp, I could make my own (not anytime soon!) 

 When I got home I made light  pencil marks on the board, top and bottom, to be sure I kept the letters straight and centered on the board.  A light sanding might not be such a bad idea either, but I was pressed for time and skipped the sanding.

Once I had every thing nice and centered, I simply glued the chip board letters to the board with wood glue.

All nice and neat!

Once the letters had a chance to dry I coated the whole sign with gesso...seemed to give the whole sign the same texture.

Next I painted it with a gray blue paint.  Then I lightly sanded it.  It just wasn't quite the look I wanted so I painted the whole thing red.  Again, I lightly sanded it. 

Once the red paint had dried, I painted over it with black acrylic mixed with float.

While it was still wet, I used the paper towels to wipe it off.

Love the way it turned out!

Oh, did I mention that when I got the family newsletter with all of the reunion details that I didn't read it?  Did I mention that once I got to the reunion with my cute little sign that I was met with a puzzled look by the reunion coordinator?   Yea, no auction this year.

Congrats to mom & dad for being the winning bidders proud new owners of the family sign!

Stop by the Tuesday To Do Party and link up your latest creative endeavor!

Smiles!!!!

Linking to many of the fun parties listed on my side bar...come join me!