For Mother's Day this year (which we celebrated last weekend as it was the first time we could all gather together) I decided I wanted to make gifts instead of buying them. I saved money, but most importantly I poured love into all my creations for my amazing Momma! Everything was a hit, and I couldn't be happier with how it all came together!
My parents have a little house on the lake where they go to "get away", but sometimes my mom has a hard time allowing herself the rest she deserves. So I thought that I'd make her something to help remember to RELAX!
I started with a wooden sign I got from Goodwill for $3 and some letters from Hobby Lobby, I believe they were under $1 apiece. I primed them:
And then spray painted them black. (With enamel paint by accident. Fortunately the paint adhered to my latex primer. Whoopsie!)
I then cut some pretty green scrapbook paper to cover the board. I contemplated some black scrapbook paper for the letters, but the paper looked gray and "off" against the black letters. It was too busy.
So I just left the letters black.
RELAX!
My scrapbook paper wasn't long enough to run the length of the board...
So I trimmed it so that the seam would be hidden behind the "L"
Pulled out the trusty Mod Podge...
And glued the paper down, pushing out bubbles with a stiff piece of cardboard.
Then I sanded the edges of the all letters...
Okay, that's bugging me.
That's better!
I glued the sanded letters to the board with E600.
Meanwhile, the puppies took the message to heart:
Hmmm... it's a little boring...
It needs some distressing, I think!
I mixed black acrylic paint with a little water and tested it on a scrap piece of paper.
I "washed" the green background with the diluted paint, and then dry-brushed undiluted black paint around the letters.
I wiped away excess paint with a paper towel.
dab dab dab
Much better! I prefer the antiqued look versus the stark black on green.
About this time I discovered that I had glued the letters upside down. The hangers on the back were the wrong way! Um, OOPS.
At least it looks cute...
And everyone got a kick out of the upside-downess. In fact, my mom decided to hang it that way! She said that way she can read it when she's on the floor from too much Patron relaxing.
She didn't have a chance to hang it up, but when she does I will take a pic to share with you!
I hope you enjoyed my RELAX tutorial! Remember to check the back before you glue your letters down... or don't and have a giggle when you look at your sign when you're drunk while you RELAX!
I am linking to a ton of great parties, so many that I simply cannot list them all here! Pretty pretty please visit my list of Craft and Tutorial parties HERE to see all the parties I linked to! A wealth of insipration awaits you!
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