Yesterday I finished a project that I'm very excited about. I was asked to do two signs. My only direction was "You're creative. I trust whatever you do will look good". So with that in mind, I had no idea where to start. Should I paint the wood and add vinyl letters? Should I paint the wood and use a vinyl stencil to paint the letters? What color paints should I use? Should I stain the wood and add vinyl letters? I had no idea. So first I had {The Man} cut my wood for me. He was already cutting up a post for another awesome project I'm working on so it was no big deal.
Next came the fun part. Sanding. I REALLY want to invest in a good power sander. It would totally be worth it for me. I've already asked for one for my birthday/Christmas. Or I found one at Walmart for only $30 that I may end up buying and forgetting to tell my husband about for a while. {He works with power tools all day, every day so he doesn't believe in buying cheep ones. He wants them to work well and last a long time.}
Once everything was silky smooth it was decision time. Paint or stain? I looked through my paints and since I wasn't sure what color she would want I decided to do black or white. Both were pretty much gone. I really wasn't in the mood to run to the store for more so my decision was made. Stain. I've only stained wood once before. It wasn't a disaster but I found painting to be much more forgiving especially on the edges of the board. I'm sure this could be solved with a good power sander though... So I grabbed my wood conditioner and started applying it to the smaller of the two signs. I used Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner left over from my last staining project. I think I got it at Home Depot. I figured I'd do the small one first and then if I didn't like it we could cut a new one. Once the wood conditioner sat for a couple minutes I wiped off the excess and applied the first coat of stain. I had two colors to choose from, ebony or dark walnut, both from Minwax. I got this from Walmart. I had decided to use white vinyl so I knew I wanted it dark but I though ebony might be too dark.
I put on the first coat of stain and I loved the color. That is, until I wiped off the excess. It was lighter than I was expecting and looked dull, not rich and shiny like the wet stain. So I added another coat and another. It was still lighter than expected. Honestly, I didn’t like it and I even told my husband I had to start over. He said he thought it looked really good and if I wasn’t going to use it for this project I should use it for something for us. I’m still not sure if he was telling the truth but I decided to stick with it anyway. I prepped the larger sign and applied the first coat of stain. The wood soaked it right up and it actually looked pretty good. I ended up only doing one coat on this one. I let both signs dry overnight.
The next morning I applied the vinyl I had cut using my Cricut and the SCAL2 software. I order all my vinyl from Expressions Vinyl. They are awesome! They have an amazing selection and great customer service. I’ve never had any issues with their products or service.
The signs were already looking better. There was only one thing missing, the clear top coat. I used Krylon Crystal Clear Flat Spray. It added just enough shine to the stain to finally make me proud to put my name on the signs. They actually looked really good! When this dried I added hardware to the back so they could be hung and I couldn’t wait to deliver them.
When {The Bean} and I dropped them off everybody loved them. I held them up on the wall where they were going to go and they looked like they belonged. It was definitely a success! After this experience I think I finally have the confidence to do what my husband has been telling me to do since he bought me my Cricut, make and sell my creations. I’ve always been afraid that I would spend a bunch of money on supplies and then no one would buy from me and everything would end of sitting around collecting dust. I’m hoping to be able to make a few Christmas themed items and trying to sell those for a little extra Christmas cash. If it goes well, I’ll try and venture outside the Christmas aisle. So if you or anyone you know could use a sign or decoration with vinyl let me know!! I’m really excited and hoping that everything will work out.
Make an Etsy account and sell on there! Those look awesome!
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