I’ve got a couple of signs to share with you guys today.
The first is a short and sweet makeover of the cupboard door sign I whipped up last November.
I don’t know, I thought it was pretty cute. But it didn’t sell. So I brought it home from the shop and I was planning to just tuck it away until next November and try again.
But as I was looking at it the other day, I thought it just might be the perfect size for the row of birds from the I.O.D. Brocante transfer.
So I sanded down the stenciled Christmas wording, vacuumed away the dust and then added a fresh coat of Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.
That gave me a clean slate for adding those birds.
Aren’t they adorable?
Full disclosure; the Brocante transfer comes with two different rows of these birds. It took a row and a half to fill my sign. I trimmed one of the rows in half and pieced it in with the other full row.
The wording is from my usual favorite, the I.O.D. Label Ephemera transfer.
It was a quick and easy makeover, and now I plan to take it back to the shop and see if it sells this time around.
I just had to stage it up with my Custom Laundry Co hanger.
Last summer my neighbor/handyman Ken called up and said he had something I might want. He’d been cleaning out the basement and he was going to throw it away, but at the last minute thought it might be something I’d like. A vintage hanger that says “French Dry Cleaner” on it? Yes, please!
Did you know that dry cleaning was invented by the French in the 18th century? Originally it was referred to as “French” for that reason, but it’s the same dry cleaning technique as any other. Who knew? Well, google knew apparently.
Certainly “French Dry Cleaners” sounds way more posh, am I right?
Either way, I’m sure glad that Ken didn’t just throw that hanger in the trash. It will be right at home with the rest of my vintage advertising hangers.
And in the meantime, it also looks good hanging from the birds.
Whether you do your laundry the old fashioned way with a bucket and washboard, the new fangled way with a washing machine, or you send it out for some French dry cleaning, this bird sign would be adorable in a laundry room. Or a potting shed. Or your foyer. Or really just about anywhere.
I pulled out another cupboard door to turn into a sign last week as well. This one was a blank slate, a factory finished door. To give it a bit of age, I painted it in a base coat of Dixie Belle’s Collard Greens mixed with some of their Sea Spray to add some gunky old texture. Once that was dry, I added a coat of DB’s Drop Cloth and then sanded it all down once the Drop Cloth was dry to reveal hints of the Collard Greens underneath.
Next I pulled out my I.O.D. Kindest Regards stamp …
and my VersaFine Clair ink in a color called Pinecone.
As I’ve mentioned here a few times, I’ve struggled in the past with using stamps on painted items. I’ve never been totally happy with my results. However, thanks to tips from a couple of my readers (using the VersaFine Clair ink over unsealed chalk paint) I think I’ve finally found success!
I stamped randomly onto the door creating a wordy background. I let the ink dry for several hours before proceeding on to add some I.O.D. transfers.
I think using the stamp as an imperfect background rather than a focal point was the secret to making the stamped look work for me.
What do you think?
I’ll be bringing both of these signs into Reclaiming Beautiful in Stillwater this week, thus giving you locals another reason to head out there (remember, they are only open Thursday to Saturday each week). While there, you could also check out the snow sculptures in Lowell Park (along the riverfront). We stopped by on a foggy morning last weekend to see them.
This one from Team Flozen, the team from Florida, was my favorite.
It’s free to go see them, and you can go anytime of day or night. I recommend going in the early morning to beat the crowds. I think I’d also recommend going before the sub-zero temps kick in on Friday night!
q is for quandie 
Both of these are lovely and have me wishing for spring! The birds are beautiful and so are the roses and the bees. I’m a sucker for flowers. 🥰. Love how you reused these!
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Love the stamped words in the background. Glad you didn’t give up working with the stamping! Beautiful bird motif – bet that’ll sell right away. Another great makeover. Your creativity never ceases to amaze me….
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I’m glad I didn’t give up on the stamping too! And you’re right about the bird sign, someone has already called dibs on it 🙂
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I’m wishing for spring too, but it’s a long ways off yet. I’m telling myself that this is the season for resting up. Gardening season will be here before we know it and I have lots of labor intensive plans for it this year!
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I love both of the cupboard door signs ♡ Beautiful ♡♡
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Thanks so much Diane!
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I loved the vignette! The new sign is perfect. Thanks about the tip for stamping. I love both of the signs. The sculpture was amazing! The ones we see are out of sand 😉.
Smiles, alice
Ps as always I enjoy your blog!
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We spoke with someone on the Florida team and he said they usually work in sand, but apparently they are good in snow too 😉
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Given the fact I am only 30 minutes north of Springfield MA, I am curious about the hanger in one of your pictures. What was the name of the company on Dwight Street? Once again–three great projects. I would have purchased your Christmas sign but your makeover temps me to buy yet another IOD Brocante transfer packet.
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The company on that hanger is Raymond White Clothier. If you want to see, follow that link to my post on the hangers. It’s in the 2nd photo down.
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The bird sign is super cute! It catches your eye and is out of the ordinary. Great piece! I like the rose door too – soft wording in the background worked well!
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Thanks Karen Q!
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Love the birds transfer! I have no doubt it will go quickly
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You are right, it’s already spoken for!
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Good morning! I really like the 2 sign,maybe because I lobe floral. The birds are fun as well. Hope they both sell. Have a blessed day.
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Thanks Charleen!
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As a fellow reseller, when you remade the cupboard door, do you then mark up the price a bit to recoup your extra labor and materials? It is hard to balance pricing and sellability sometimes.
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No I don’t. But you can’t really go by me. As I’ve said all along, I don’t do this gig to make money. If that was the case, I’d have given it up long ago. I totally love creating things. I feel most content when I have a project underway. I’m just happy that I can sell my pieces to fund my hobby and that I’m not losing money. I get a little panicky when I have pieces sitting around that aren’t selling, so my goal is to just get them out the door. Even if I have to re-work them and then simply break even on the sale. I’m sorry, you probably don’t want to hear that, but that’s how it is for me.
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Thanks for your reply. I do understand what you are saying.
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Ahhhh!! I need so many transfers!
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LOL, I know, right? And then you’ll need a new cupboard to store them all in!
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Well, Miss Quandie, I DO WANT you to make some good moola off your hard and creative work! You deserve it and, besides, I love the idea of your travel fund! I get it that it’s not hard if you love it and you DO still have time to be up on a foggy morning looking at ice sculptures………you cover a lot of the “life well lived” bases. 👍❤ A do-over on a done project takes some good motivation and I think the bird rack turned out very cute AND I love the thought you put into your styling vignette for it!
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Thanks so much Connie! I’ll admit, I do have plenty of time for a do-over this time of year. There isn’t a lot going on here besides viewing snow sculptures and shoveling the driveway 😉
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The birds are GREAT!! Love them and I’m sure it will sell quickly. I enjoy your blog!
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Thanks Barbara!
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I absolutely ADORE the birds. I often wish Idaho were closer to Minnesota!
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Thanks Deborah!
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Hi Linda! You can’t go wrong with IOD things. The sisters really do help us out with all of the beautiful things. Have you had a sneak peak to what is coming from them? I bet you will have so much fun with it.
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I sure do wish I had a sneak peek at the new release! I don’t have any inside info and am not affiliated with them in any way. I’m waiting with bated breath to see if they come out with something to ‘replace’ the Label Ephemera transfer. Do you have any inside info on that??
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