My attempt to make a beach sign...

I recently redecorated a wall in my house, and I'm hoping that I'll have an entry up soon to show off what I've done. In the meantime, here is my attempt to make my very own beach sign decor...

I've had a stack of these pictures in the garage for a while. I bought them at Home Goods...

I actually had to visit a few lunchtime visits over at the Mercado shopping center by my work (which reminds me, I've got to go again!)  but got lucky each time. 70 cents?!?! 
WIN! 

Front of sign says: He who plants a garden, plants happiness.

Moving on.....

I:

1) Taped off the ends so I would have a clean edge.I wanted to keep the solid black "frame".

2) Played with the word "BEACH" on MS word. (After a while, playing w/ fonts, "beach" started playing mind games with me, and I actually had to do a spell check because it looked so wrong!) Printed it out & made sure the size fit "just right" on the sign.

Then I taped the printed letters onto contact paper. I cut around each letter carefully using a exacto knife to get the small details in the letter. Make sure you secure the letters onto the contact paper as needed, to retain the shape of the letters. If you have a cricut/ die cut machine, you could also use a cricut to cut out the letters for you on the contact paper if you want to skip this part. I actually got this contact paper use idea from this "how to make subway art" blog .... 




3) I painted the sign with extra house paint I had left over from an old project... I loved the color, and had to use it over again. It's Ralph Lauren's Iced Mint in a satin finish. 

I let the paint dry, and then I peeled the backing off the contact paper and stuck my letters on... Use a ruler to make sure your letters a straight... Trust me.  You'll soon see why..

  

Contact letters on.. and ready to go.

4) Then to get that white-washed look, I took some cream acrylic paint and a paint brush, and a paper towel. Dipped the brush in paint, then wiped the excess on the paper towel and dragged the semi-wet brush across the surface... Later I took the paper towel and dabbed and wiped areas where the cream color seemed "too thick". It's important that the color behind the white wash show through... 

See the streaking action?!?! 

 

5) After the paint dried, I peeled off the contact paper. It came off very easily...

I think I got a little too excited about finishing, and rushed this project... My sign is a little crooked. Like I said use a ruler... But it was so fast & easy that I will be correcting it over the weekend... 


Updated: June 20th. It really REALLY bugged me. I had to fix it....

I took this picture in the evening. I'll post a pic with natural sunlight as soon as I get a chance.



shen