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August 4, 2011

Vintage Style Painted Cafe Sign for Daughter #2



A few months ago I made this vintage style diner sign for my oldest daughter (pictured below), and hung it above her chair in the kitchen.  She loves it, and won't sit on the other side of the table, because she has to sit in "Jossy's Diner". 
I fully intended to make another for my younger daughter, but it has taken me a few months to get around to it, much to her chagrin.  She wants to sit under her own sign!


Part of the reason this one took me so long to get going, is because I had to cut it down, and I was afraid to bust out the skil saw.  I've had the square of wood, with my shape penciled on, for months, but it was only a couple of weeks ago that I finally took the plunge and used the saw. 
It isn't perfect, but luckily when you're going for a battered old sign, it doesn't need to be!

Here's the how-to:
Using acrylic paint, I painted the first coat antique white...

and the second coat orange.  Using my silhouette to cut out the vinyl words (to use as a reverse stencil), I put the vinyl on everything I wanted to stay orange....

Third coat of paint was brown...(paint over the vinyl).

 And then I put vinyl (and tape) on parts I wanted to keep brown...


Next was another coat of antique white...but only in specific places, as you see below...


I used vinyl to make a stencil of clock hands, which I painted in with black paint, one at a time...


I did a bit of distressing after painting the hands on...

Finally, I put down the vinyl stencil of the words "Kaija's Cafe" and painted them in blue...


And of course the fun part - pulling off all the vinyl!!...

I am very pleased with how it turned out!  You can see the hanging hardware I attached on the top...

I have to tell you, distressing a sign that you just lovingly painted is both fun and terrifying.  I am always so worried that I will hate it, and have ruined the project!
Luckily, this one turned out to my satisfaction :)



Here it is hanging on the wall with the other two signs I made. (The washroom sign tutorial can be found here).  In case you were wondering, my daughter was born in 2009, hence the Est. 2009.  Perhaps that was obvious - but there you go :)

I am toying with the idea of hanging silverware from the bottom of Kaija's Cafe sign...
I'm not quite sure how I would do it though.  Probably drilling holes in the silverware to hang with fishing wire from hooks screwed into the bottom (?). 
I will of course, let you know if I do any more to it.
For now, I get a smile on my face every time I walk through the kitchen!

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10 comments:

  1. Lindsay! I love your sign! Great tutorial too!
    thanks for linking up.
    I'm catching you this week,
    gail

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  2. great job! and a great tutorial!

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  3. This is amazing!! Great job!! I am visiting from Tatertots and Jello and I am a new follower!! Also, I would love if you would come link this up to my Delicately Constructed Friday party tonight or tomorrow!
    Hope you are having a great weekend and I see you around soon!!
    Michelle
    www.delicateconstruction.blogspot.com

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  4. Wow! Your signs are incredible!


    I would love for you to link up your post at my Savvy HomeMade blog party at http://www.homesavvyatoz.com/2011/08/07/bog-party-2

    I am a new follower!

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  5. I love those signs! Great tip for using the vinyl as a stencil.

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  6. Love this sign, especially the est. font and congratulations on busting out the skil saw!

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  7. Wow, what a fantastic sign and you did such a great job!

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  8. Hello! I'm Kassandra. I featured this here at my blog. I hope you'll stop by a grab a button!

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  9. Your signs are very cute and fun. I love the retro influences.

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