Gimme a sign!

At each end of our property is a sign post...
(we briefly mentioned them way back here  ).

And last week, we left off here with the planting of the bedraggled mums:

We're in the middle of doing the historical research on the house, to try to find a new name for the property.  The trick is trying to find little stretches of time to go down to the Hall of Records to pick up the trail of property deeds.  We're now back to 1872.  Only about 100 more years to go!

In the meantime, we decided we could make a monogram sign to hang on the driveway entrance that we use the most.

So after measuring, we were off to Lowe's.  They have pre-cut boards, that are perfect. 
We also picked up some trim moulding (to add a little detail to the top & bottom of our sign), and some new hardware (the hooks on the post are all rusty).

Mike attached the moulding to the top and bottom on each side.  A little wood putty to cover the nail holes, a quick sanding, and we were ready to paint it white.

This took a couple of days... waiting for each coat to dry, then flipping it over & repeating.

So, in the meantime, I searched online for a nice "R" to paint on. 

Here were some of my top picks  --->

The winner was from here (they have tons of cool patterns!)

The colors are just representative (the closest I could come with my set of sharpies!)  We're using the blue, green & cranberry house paint that the previous owners had left for us in the basement.

The next step was enlarging it (and thickening up the lines a little bit).

To do this, I went back to basics- the grid method learned in elementary school art class. 
I wasn't confident enough in my artistic ability to draw it directly onto the sign. 
I instead put it onto paper (four pieces taped together to be precise!)

The next trick was getting it onto the sign. 

When I was little, my mom had taught me to use a pencil to trace the design on the reverse side.  Then you tape it up & trace it on the correct side.  The lead will transfer onto the surface.  

(I have no idea what project we were working on when she taught me that- but I remembered the important part!)

I spent the next couple of evenings painting both sides of the sign. 
Then I applied a clear coat (spray paint) to seal it.  Mike then put the new hardware on.


And we were finally ready... 

Tah-Dah!