signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs.

Published on by Quandie

I’ve got a thing for signs.  I have to work hard to keep it in check.  How many signs are too many?

I’m not sure about a general rule of thumb, but I’m trying to limit myself to no more than two signs per room.  That seems reasonable, right?

And what exactly counts as a sign?

Anything with words on it?  Do I have to count chalkboard signs too then?

These sorts of rules are fairly fluid in my house, and I figure I can always find a spot for just one more sign.

So a while back I purchased this Merry and Bright sign at the Goodwill.  The yellow door behind it in the photo was a garage sale find.  I’m still working on the door, but today we’re talking about the sign.

no-vacancy-sign-before

The sign wasn’t bad ‘as is’, my sister thought I would just keep it and put it up for the holidays.  But I wanted to turn it into something else.

I started by painting the entire thing in Fusion’s Coal Black.  I chose Fusion paint for this step because I wanted a paint that would adhere well, you’ll understand why in a minute.

I let the Fusion paint cure for about a week just to make sure it was a little bit cured.

Next I used my Cricut machine to cut the wording for my sign out of white vinyl.  I placed the letters on my sign using a chalk line to keep them straight.

Next I painted over the whole shebang with Miss Mustard Seed milk paint in French Enamel.

Interesting to note that the milk paint did not adhere to the vinyl at all.  It did adhere to the Fusion paint though.  This blue is my undercoat of color, so I vacuumed off the chipping paint and then added a little wax all around the outer frame of the sign.  I then added three coats of Homestead House milk paint in Limestone (vacuuming off the paint that chipped off the vinyl between every coat).

Once dry, I peeled off my vinyl letters revealing the black Fusion paint underneath.  Then I sanded the entire sign to distress it up.

I got some nice chipping (thanks to the wax) that revealed the base layer of blue paint.

sign-close-up

For now I’ve hung the sign over my Belgian bench.

no-vacancy-sign-1

I don’t plan for this to be its permanent home, but I’ll leave it there and enjoy it for bit.

18 thoughts on “signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs.”

  2. Love! I’m a sign junkie too. “I have too many signs” no one ever said. But your sign reminds me of something… at my age everything reminds me of something else… and mostly people roll their eyes when I begin that trip down memory lane. But I digress. I have a male friend who had been divorced for a long time and wanted very much to find someone on a more permanent basis. He did many auditions (cough) so I had to dig out one of my vintage signs and tack it over his bed one day when he was busy outside. Of course, the sign said “VACANCY”. He kept it there and has not yet filled the position. Hope springs eternal. See what I did there?

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  3. Love it!! I’m thinking of purchasing a cricut because of all your cleverness with it. Could you do a post some time on it? How hard are they to use for someone who is not very experienced with the computer? And there are so many out there now! Which is the best? Do you use standard lettering or have you bought special fonts? Love, love, love your blog!

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    1. I definitely don’t know enough enough about the other options out there to give an opinion on how the Cricut compares. And even with the Cricut, I have an older model and I don’t connect mine to the computer, I just use the font cartridges. I know there is so much more that one can do with a Cricut, but I am fairly limited in what I can do because I haven’t learned how to connect to the computer and download fonts etc. I’m betting that you can find better experts out there with more info than I can provide.

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  7. Great repurpose with a built-in frame. Did you use milk paint for your final layer to achieve the crackling in the Limestone paint? Instant vintage! I would wager you could do a brisk business at your sales by selling Cricut words and phrases!

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