The Henry Family Creed

Remember this?

This 16 x 24 board has kept me very busy lately.



I have always loved all the old vintage subway signs, but not enough to pay a ton of money for one. I also liked the look, but not necessarily the sayings on those old signs.

So I went a'Googling and found several website offering personalized "vintage" signs.

Since they cost a bazillion dollars a piece, I figured I could make one myself.

I skipped down to mom and dad's and, lo and behold, he had the perfect board!! Most of the signs I'd seen were 12 x 24, but 16 x 24 would totally work.

I'd make it work.

So I spray painted it black.

I particularly liked several different versions of a "Family Rules" sign.

So, Brian and I came up with a few sayings of our own, and borrowed a few sayings from the ones we'd seen.

I created a template in Microsoft Publisher and - since it was so big - had to tape all the pieces together.

Now, I had our layout, and added our name to it.

It took me a while to figure out the best way to get the template onto the board.

Finally, after searching and searching and SEARCHING, I found some white transfer paper.

Seriously, why is this so hard to find around here?

The store where I finally located it wasn't open evenings or weekends so I had to send my brother to get it for me (which reminds me, I owe him $11.00).

I taped it to the board and put the template over top.

And then I hand traced everything.

This is where the copious amounts of this came into play:

TED-I-OUS.

It probably took me about two hours to get the entire thing transferred over.
It was really fairly easy.
Just a little labor intensive.
And my neck and shoulders were killing me the next day.

Here's what I ended up with.

I am not sure what I was thinking, but I decided I could hand paint this all on.

Um, do you see how different all those fonts are?

Yeah. That was a bitch.

I used a lot of paint pens, but then didn't like how it looked.

So I ended up going back over most of it with a paintbrush and paint.

Yup, that's right.

I basically did it TWICE.

Brian spent a lot of time running to the liquor store. Copious amounts, people.

But here's what it looked like after all that painting.




I liked it.

Brian liked it.

But it just didn't feel right yet.

Out came the sandpaper and steel wool.

And here's the final product, with one coat of matte poly (which was still wet when I took this)

I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Every single saying on there is something I want my girls to remember.....
(listen to your parents - they know everything)

And to know.....
(know you are loved)

And aspire to...
(always be honest. always keep your promises)

And maybe I could learn a thing or to as well....
(have patience)

So, what do you think????

Joining Metamorphasis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch.



I'm joining Pamela over at Be Colorful's "Motivated Monday".

She's got some serious motivation over there - check it out!!