So, if you read my last post, you know that I made a craft room sign for my wife to celebrate her getting her own space (if not, check it out!). You also know that my wife promptly asked me to consider making a sign for my little one, who happens to rent a "corner" of the room all to herself...
So naturally, I got to work!
I started with a cypress round that I got from Jesse's Exotic Woods up near Gainesville, FL. I have a couple of these rounds, and they are about 12" in diameter. I sanded it down to make a nice, smooth surface before getting started.
I decided that I wanted the sign to be very colorful; especially since my daughter loves rainbows right now! So, I mapped out a cute font; "KG Who Tells Your Story" is the font, to be exact. I started by printing it out and cutting out each letter individually and tracing it on the round using a pencil...
After laying it all out, I erased the straight lines that guided my placement of the letters and lightly erased the outlines of each letter so the pencil graphite doesn't poke through the paint.
Next, I got out my acrylic paints and got to work!
Like I said, I used rainbow colors alternatively on each letter. I used a very thin, fine paintbrush to paint each letter, obviously moving slowly to make sure I didn't deviate from the outline too much.
This was definitely one of the toughest paint jobs I've ever done, definitely took a lot of patience and I really had to take my time.
But, it was still missing something...
Perfect!
These are the three activities my daughter likes to do the most in the craft room with my wife (play-doh, coloring and painting). I printed out the clipart outlines and traced them onto the sign where they looked best. Then, I painted over it with acrylic paints. I also used my Sharpie paint pens for the play-doh container lettering, which needed more attention to detail and precision.
When all the paint was complete, I let the paint fully dry overnight.
The next morning, it was time for poly!
I laid on a thick coat of gloss spray polyurethane; This poly really darkens the acrylic colors and gives them a nice, glossy pop. It also darkened the wood nicely while providing a nice, protective barrier.
I let it fully dry all day until it was no longer "tacky" or wet. Then, I flipped it over, and attached some D-rings...
To make sure that the sign hangs nice and level, I used a piece of white poster-board to line up the letters on the front. Then, I flipped it over and drilled the holes using another straight edge that matched up with the leveled poster-board on the front. These hangers are super heavy duty, so I know she'll be safe sitting underneath it while working on her crafts!
All that's left now is to hang it up!
So much character in such a little piece!
When I showed my daughter the sign, she was able to pick out all the different colors and the clipart images I painted on! Clever girl!
This job was a little different than what I've been doing lately; I left the wood natural and just used paint to decorate the wood. No sawing, no carving, etc. It was a nice little break from all the hard work I've been putting in on my other projects! Plus, as an added bonus, I could work on this project at night because it didn't make any noise to create!
So now, my little one has a sign for her own little space within my wife's new space! What a lucky girl!
-Kevin
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