Tutorial Time! I Made My Very Own Handmade Sign!

Welp, I bit the bullet and did something I thought I would hate...pained a sign.  It looks hard, and it looks fussy, messy, and I hate painting intricate things.  Give me an old dresser and I'll paint that all day.  Ask me to paint a leaf?  Or a spiral or a cottage rose and you're on your own.

So, here's what I did:  I made this! 

Not bad, eh?  It cost me a whole  $0.53.  Yes, fifty-three cents.  I had most of the materials on hand, and I found the wood at the Habitat For Humanity Re-Sale Shop.  It's an old cabinet from someone's kitchen.

Here's how I did this.

Coat your old cabinet with a couple of coats of primer.  I found this in our garage, so I used this.

This stuff is goopy and snotty and smelly, so use a foam brush that you can just toss.  Let it dry really well and give it a couple of coats of acrylic paint.  I used these:

Here's one that's on my workbench, waiting for a little more love.

Now, we're going to get down to business, and I apologize for not having photos of this step, but I was getting down to business!

Print your message out on your printer, to the exact size that you want your letters on your sign.

Cut them out and tape them very gingerly onto your painted board, with a piece of ordinary carbon paper underneath.

I used this:

I had this laying around, but I believe you can purchase this at Office Max or Staples for less than $2.00.  

NOW....trace around your letters.  Take your time.  Use a ballpoint pen and push hard enough to leave a bit of an indent in your wood.  This helps the paint "stay in the lines,."  Use a teeny tiny pointed brush...here's a photo of my brush collection. Yes, I have a problem.  I love craft supplies.

The super pointy one?  That's the one.  Outline your letters, then fill in with a thicker brush.  Take your time, take breaks....relaxxxxx.

When you are satisfied with your masterpiece, give it a light sanding....I used "finishing" sandpaper (pictured above)...I sanded a bit heavier along the edges, and lighter over the letters, but the overall effect was "weathered."  I think I did great.  Here's a closeup.  See my corneres, there?  And the white kind of showing through toward the bottom?

I considered an antiquing finish as well, but I was simply tickled with what I had, so I finished off with a light varnish, added a couple of sawtooth hangers and BOOM.  I made a sign for fifty-three cents.

I would estimate that had I purchased all of my materials, this would have still cost less than $20.00 to make!  

OK, your turn!  Really, give it a shot!  This project only took a couple of days due to drying time, and was well worth it! 

Here is my next victim! I found this sweet thing hanging out at the end of someone's driveway on trash day!

What should I do with THIS little sweetie?

New in my Etsy Shop! Lake Michigan Sea Glass Necklace!

I designed this darling necklace with center drilled sea glass from my personal collection. Here, I have used three similarly shaped pieces in powder blue, petal pink, and a misty, minty green. These have been mounted on a sturdy length of solid sterling wire, with sterling silver ball spacer beads, and neatly wire wrapped onto a dainty sterling chain.

Because sea glass is SO unique, I only have this one available at the moment!  Sea glass is hard to find, but  I am not complaining...the time it takes to find these is well worth the time I get to spend combing the beach!

You can find this necklace here;  http://www.karmabeads.etsy.com

New Design! A Tiny Perfume Bottle with One Tiny Wish!

I found these tiny crystal perfume bottles at our local bead shop here in Grand Haven and I knew exactly what I was going to do with them!

And I just love what happened!  

As luck would have it, the tiny little hollow area is the very size I needed to hide one tiny dandelion seed!  Can you see it?

:)

Then, I wrapped a couple of perfect little freshwater pearls to the clasp and hung one on the pendant and voila....a wish necklace, for you from KarmaBeads on Etsy.

I hope you love this too!