My DIY Cafe Kitched Sign

Happy Hump Day Designer, DIY crafters and anyone that likes to just make anything creative!

A couple months ago while walking my oh-so-cute 5 year old pomeranian Yoshi:

I came across a simple nice piece of wood.


I have a habit of looking into the allies for tossed treasures. First thought that came to mind was that I could paint it, and make signs for my kitchen out of it. You know signs that read: Eggs, Fresh Milk, Coffee.

Well, on one side of the wood a small area was pealing. Hmmm...let me try to think of how I can explain this better. First off, I'm not sure what type of wood it is. Maybe it's birch. There is a very thin layer on each side, and one layer close to the edge bubbled up. I almost let this influence me to toss it.

BUT, I didn't :D

I came across this blog entry:

http://creativejuicesdecor.blogspot.com/2011/02/pottery-barn-knockoffdistressed-clock.html

I fell in love with her DIY Pottery Barn knock off clock.

She used tissue paper and water glue mixture. Mod Podge works as well. She crinkled the tissue paper, put a layer of glue on the surface and it adds a really neat texture to the wooden piece. I actually tried to do this project. The piece of wood I had was less than an inch thick. It was birch, and I had to saw it to a smaller size.

The birch didn't saw very well. There were a lot of jagged edges, which didn't work so well when I put the tissue paper on the board. The edges have to be smooth so that the tissue paper can be folded and glued down to the back of the piece. This was mess up one. Mess up two was trying to save money by making my own glaze.

Glaze mess-up:

First I thought I could mix a little black paint with my water glue mixure. That didn't work. Then I tried using black nail polish in the water glue mixture. Nail polish doesn't mix with water :/ My final attempt was mixing clear nail polish with black nail polish. FAIL. I threw my piece away.

I loved the technique with the tissue paper, so decided to paint my long wooden board white, and use the tissue paper technique on it.

I let it sit in my kitchen for over a week before I figured out what I wanted to put on it.

On yet another walk with my oh-so-cute Yoshi:

I found a super big foam board in the ally. At first I didn't grab it, but after laying on the couch for a while I came up with an idea of what to do with it. This is where the board comes in. The board will be put above the black foam board. I will post picture once it's hung.

Here is the board with lettering on it.

Inspired by:

I don't have a Cricut, so I had to use Word, enlarge the words with the work copier and trace onto the tissue paper.

The last thing I have to do is glaze the sign. This will bring out the texture and add soooo much character.The plan is to buy glaze this weekend. I will post final pics once it's completed.