A Crafty Welcome

A Crafty Welcome!

Nothing says welcome to my home more than a sign saying it! Here’s a D. I. Y. welcome sign that I started after attending so many craft shows and upcycle fairs, and saying to myself, “Gosh, I really could make this!”  I have a severe case of procrastination at times, but on this occasion, I stuck to my guns and said I’d do this project.

My original intent was to just white-wash some kind of found board and then stencil the word welcome on it and stick it out on my porch. But this project felt so flat and it seems that everyone had this sign. As I thought about the project my new desire for mixed media arts reared its head.

I wanted a three-dimensional image. So I started to look around for things that would form the letters. I went to Home Depot with my husband one day. On an end-cap to one of the aisles was an open flooring carton. It contained grey wash slat boards for flooring and some were already missing. I took just one (I should’ve taken more) up to the cashier, I wanted to look around for hardware pieces but husband got the item he came into the store for so homeward bound we were. I was charged $3.49 for the board; I was happy.

Needless to say, the board sat around my house and was moved from room to room! Procrastination, there it is again!

Turned out nice!

Finding Do-dads

I happen to have been shopping at the holy grail of all crafting, Hobby Lobby, but I was there for a flower arrangement I was putting together, If you have ever been there (and I know you have)you know one cannot just go straight to the items you came in for…  LOL. I found all the things I needed for my upcycled three-dimensional welcome sign.  I was hoping to find a key or railroad spike to put on it, but you know I’ll be doing other word projects like this!

How to make it

I “dry-brushed” some Annie Sloan chalk paint in the color of Old Ochre and I did a super shotty job so that it would look super old. Then, I took a fine grit sandpaper to it, I sanded all over the piece, the edges, and into the body. I then painted with simple acrylic paints in red the big “W”, and then I took a fine tip sharpie in black and added dots to the block “o” because I wanted to add some interest.

The chalk paint that I used

I lined them up on my table, and still I thought it would look boring, I thought about adding a silk flower or two, but remembered on a long ago previous trip to Hobby Lobby, I picked up some embellishments and never could remember what I was going to use them for, and I knew they’d work here!

How to affix the Do-dads

I have a very noxious epoxy that I have used before. But there is no way I can do this in the house and it is way too cold outside to use the product anyway. So enter my “go-to” glue, E6000, this works and adheres to wood, glass, jewelry, mug handles, you name it, the stuff works! It is wonder glue. I was worried, however, because a few things did have some weight like the iron house number, the little dragonfly and the metal flower with leaves, I used ample glue on these. For the flower, I put a heavy cookbook on top of it and waited to move it until the next day. And like magic, they were affixed!

How to hang

it was easier to make than it looks

Another slight dilemma, how can I hang this? I have a few sawtooth hangers around but I thought it might not have been strong enough. So I took some very tiny hanger nails (from the sawtooth package) and hammered them in. Then I took floral wire and wrapped the nails. After that, I put a spot of E 6000 on the nail and wire and then in about 1 hour it was ready to hang!

*My project is not sealed and I would not put this directly in the weather, however, I do think it would be fine on a covered porch.

Finished sign hanging

sign leaning 

Now that I’ve made one of these signs, I am obsessed with making more. I hope you liked today’s post and I hope that it inspired you to make your own!