Primitive Old Wood SIMPLIFY BOX

As a quick share for today, I'm gonna show you some pics of an old wooden box.

When I got it, it was all plain and dirty and with years of leaves and crud inside.

It didn't matter to me though, I knew I could do something with it.

 

I took a water hose to it at first with a good scrubbing consisting of about 4 brillo pads.

And then after it all dried good, I got out my stencils.

Looking for a big one, I choose the one as you see saying, "Simplify."

And the large star.

I get all of my stencils off from eBay by just searching for "primitive stencils."

Anyways, after using some Delta stencil paint, (also found on eBay,)

 

I let it dry for about 24 hours.  

If you've ever worked with the Delta stencil paints before, you know this is a must because they take a long time to dry because it is oil based.  But the good thing is that they cover great and last long.

After that I just took some craft sealer, found in the craft paint section

 and put on a coating of that in matte.

  

In this pic below you can still see it a bit wet looking before it had dried completely:

But don't worry, it dries completely clear:

And here it is all finished and ready to sell:

It is for sell in my craft Booth#555

$19.99

Sold

THANK YOU!

Distressed Wood Sign

I'm posting about making my Booth #555 sign because it can apply to any worded sign you may want to do. Just find or buy you a preferably blank piece of wood. And you can print out any saying you'd like (fresh eggs, welcome, ect.) simply by using:

Microsoft Word
an ink pen
sharpie marker
acrylic craft paint

I wanted to make a new booth sign so passer bys could easily remember my booth number. Most booths at the Peddlers Mall only have tiny printed out numbers taped on the outside wall of their booth. I have always wanted a way to stand out. So here's how I made it.

I started out with an old broken wooden wine rack, (I'm guessing) that I won from an auction.

First off, I printed out a few different size "5's using Microsoft Word. 

Then I unscrewed the two screws holding on the broken wine hangers and removed them.

I ended up using the one that was almost center of a regular printer size paper. It was perfect for my size board.

Then I eyeballed it and centered the middle one as best as I could, leaving room for the other two. And I used a ball point pen and traced the 5 onto the board. Pushing enough so that there would be an imprint left behind for me to paint along.

And after tracing, here's what I was left with. A good enough impression to keep me painting straight. Look close and you can see it.

Next step was to paint all the 5's in with an off white, acrylic craft paint.

Plaid-Craft MS32100-23 Martha Stewart Pearl Acrylic Craft Paint 2 Ounc (Google Affiliate Ad)

one by one........

Ah, it was finally starting to come together now. Then I decided to take a shortcut and use a black sharpie marker to outline all the 5's. I just figured it would be way faster than painting those thin little lines and it was. I was worried about feathering from the marker on the wood, but thankfully it didn't happen. Be careful with yours!

I did the same lines on each one, to try and keep it consistent. Then I came back and forth until complete. Be careful that your hand doesn't smear the marker before completely dry!

I then let it all dry for about 20 minutes. I didn't want to take a risk because my next step involved sand paper. lol. I took some medium grit and roughed it all up a bit. Kinda giving it a worn look, but not over doing it by rubbing off an entire 5 or anything.

Then I got out my all purpose sealer and put on a light coat. I did this 2 times so that my sign can withstand being dropped, scraped, thrown in the back of my truck and so forth. lol I'm kinda rough on items unless they are really fragile!

After that dried, I thought it could still use a bit of something. So I got out some pieces of grapevine garland and stapled some on the edges. I also hung a little metal brown star in the middle,  look close, and I wrote "crafts by Lisa." And then I was finally done and happy with it. Here it is all finished.

I hope this gives you the gumption to start making a wood sign. Ideas could include, Fresh Eggs, Welcome, Primitive, Laundry, Cottage....the list goes on and on. Keep in mind that it was super easy with the pre-printed out 5's! And it's now sitting on a shelf right in the center of my Booth #555 at the Peddlers Mall in Morehead, KY.

Happy Crafting ya'll!

~Lisa