Making Signs

My teacher friend Becky and I have been *slightly* obsessed with making signs from reclaimed wood. We've been seeing signs all over the place in upscale shops in Maui with cute sayings on them like "Relax" and "Aloha".  We thought, we can make that!

To get started, we asked the wood shop teacher if he had any scrap pieces of wood that he didn't want. He did!  He actually had a lot and said we can take all we want!

Here are the other supplies we gathered:

• Cricut Cutting Machine (my favorite font cartridges are Cuttin' Up and Alphalicious )
• Vinyl Sheets
• Foam Brushes
• Acrylic Paints

First, we decided if we wanted to white wash the top of the board or leave it wood.  Then, we cut out the letters we wanted and arranged them on the board.  We stuck the letters down and mixed paint to go over the top.  Once the top coat of paint dried, we peeled the letters off.  You can finish your project with a quick spray of clear coating or brush on some polyurethane if the sign might be outdoors.  We glued rope to the back of some to hang and hammered picture hanging hardware to the back of others.  It's fun to create signs that are unique and different!

We made this one as part of a going-away present for a fellow teacher who moved back to California at the end of last year.  She loves the beach and really did have shells in her pockets sometimes! :)

Becky made this one for her dining room area.  It says "Sun, Sea, Sand".

I wanted to try using the outside of the vinyl, so once Becky used the letters SEA for her sign, I made this one.  I glued real sand around the letters.  It was for my dad for Father's Day.  He has a sailboat and is obsessed with the ocean.  Needless to say, he loved it!

I made this one for our front door.

So after making a variety of fun signs, Becky and I decided to make one for a new business in town: Anuenue Juice Bar!  Anuenue means "rainbow" in Hawaiian and Tammy has some beautiful menus in her shop with black backgrounds and rainbow colored writing on them.  These menus inspired her sign.

First, we mixed bright rainbow colors and painted them in stripes on a large board.  Then, we cut out our letters in all caps and arranged them on the board.  Once we stuck them down, we painted black chalkboard paint over the entire board.  When we started to peel the letters, we could see the rainbow colors!  Becky is the resident paint mixer, as well as arranger (she just has a great eye for making things even), so her skills came in handy with this project.  

In process, peeling letters off.

All finished!  We painted the edge of the board a bold turquoise.   

Here it is in Tammy's shop!  We ended up polyurethaning it in case she ever wanted to lean it outside.  I LOVE how it turned out!  So bright, fun, cheery.  SO Tammy!  I wish her nothing but success in her new business! 

I'm linking up with Monday Made It!