This batch of signs went to Seaworthy Home in Seabrook, WA.
The owner, Lisa, likes to send me a challenge every once in a while! This time she asked if I had ever made a lighted sign, which I hadn’t….but hey, why not?!
This one was my very favorite! I used a battery-operated string, so it can go anywhere. I bought a couple more strings of lights, in the hopes that I may make another one someday!
<Sigh.> There have been a lot of weeks that have passed since my last blog post again. I have such good intentions, but time just flies by!
Here are some of the things I have been working on lately. I made a batch of Christmas signs for Ruffles & Rust in Snohomish, WA.
The shop has started carrying some amazing gourmet food items for the holidays, so several of the signs were also very specific advertising!
This last one is my very most favorite. I hand-painted it, based on a Christmas card, on a piece of luan, and then backed it with beadboard. It almost didn’t get to leave the house!
The power supply on our main computer died, and it’s just not as easy to write blog posts on my “vintage” laptop! But I thought I’d pop in to show one of my latest projects.
Back in 2011, I participated in “Crafting With the Stars” and knocked-off the Ballard Designs home “theatre” signs (you can see the original post here).
I multi-tasked for this project, and used the signs as a Christmas gift for my sister! (They look better in her house than in mine, shown below.)
A friend of mine asked if I would make another set for her, and I agreed to do everything except the film reels (never again).
I “americanized” the spelling of “Theater,” and changed the ticket number to one that was meaningful for her.
It was fun to revisit an old project!
I was thinking about what to write this morning, and I had one of those “ah-ha” moments when I was reading the My Repurposed Life blog. Gail gives a handy tip she has learned from all her sign making, and it was one of those things that had me wanting to do a face palm!!
You see, a few weeks ago I was asked to make a HUGE sign for Ruffles & Rust Square with Paul Harvey’s famous “So God Made a Farmer” monologue on it. The finished size was something like 44” x 36”, if I remember correctly. I framed it in with some stained 1x3’s, and accented the corners with some mending brackets.
You can see that there are a lot of tiny little words! Weeding out the vinyl took a very long time, and then transferring the stencil to the wood involved a lot of fiddling with “oodles and boodles,” as Gail calls them.
So what was her tip, you are asking?? Well, she DOESN’T weed UNTIL she has transferred the vinyl. That way she only has to fiddle with the “oodles & boodles” ONCE!
Ah, so brilliant…I love learning something new that will save time!
My family room project (first mentioned here) has been stalled out as we wait for my NEW COUCH! I’ll share more about that later, but let me just warn you…don’t put too much faith in shipping company estimates that send you in a panic to get rid of your old furniture…or you just might spend 2 1/2 weeks with NO furniture!
So the goal for my family room was to be a little more “fun & funky” than is my normal modus operandi. If it were up to my husband and/or children, the whole room would look like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Or a Tardis. Or a wood-elf lodge.
I’m already compromising by including Legos in the room (you can see my IKEA hack display shelf here)….but it’s NOT going to be a Tardis room! However, I am trying to work with a bit of a theme, and I call it:
Vintage Geek
Something for him (husband), something for them (kids), and something for me (me!).
With that in mind, I worked on a little wall art, loosely inspired by the Ballard Designs Pruvost plaque. I’ve loved the shape of it for.ev.er. So I used some scrap plywood to make a similar-shaped sign, which is supposed to look like an ooooooollllllddd (that’s the vintage part) inn sign.
I made the white one first, but then I wasn’t sure if it went in the room as well as I wanted…so then I made the wood one.
So how about an opinion? Which one do YOU like better??
And then a question: are you geeky enough to know what the “Green Dragon Inn” comes from??
If you want to cheat, the answer is here.
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Note: I have been getting some questions lately that I can’t respond to because they come from “No-Reply Bloggers!” If you’ve asked me a question and I have answered, please try again, but include an e-mail address!
Yesterday I finished up my most recent batch of Christmas signs, and I wondered what to do with them—other than stacking them against the wall! I’ve been trying to do a little decorating, but my mantel is giving me a little trouble. It’s my first year having one, and I didn’t seem to have much in my “stash” that felt right for me…and I have no desire to go out and spend a bunch of money on something new right now.
So…I played with the signs!
You know what? I kind of like it! A mantel full of good wishes for the season!
What do you think?
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Still accepting custom orders until 12/15. E-mail me at redhenhome@gmail.com.
I received an e-mail from a sweet blogging friend last week wondering where I was! I know I have been a little MIA this last week. I had some self-imposed deadlines on some building projects, and I’ve been spending every minute in my garage!
I thought I’d share a few of the new Christmas Signs I have been working on. Another symptom of how busy I’ve been is that none of these have been listed in my etsy shop (ugh!)…but then, these are BIG, HEAVY signs, and I worry that no one would want to pay the accompanying shipping charges! However, if you’re local, all of these signs went either to Ruffles & Rust in Snohomish, or to Seaworthy Home in Pacific Beach, WA.
“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” is a Pottery Barn knock-off, and it seems to be the favorite with people on my Facebook page!
The big signs are REALLY big—almost 2 feet square. It was fun to learn a new skill in framing them in.
I made some smaller signs with my scraps….
This “Let it Snow” sign is my favorite of the smaller signs.
You can see the difference in sizes in the “Have Yourself a Merry little Christmas” signs. The white one was by far the more popular one.
This one was super fun to make…it’s my version of this pinned sign. Mine’s a little more rustic looking, I think.
I already have a “special order” for one of these signs for my sister, and I’m trying to decide which one I might need for myself! Which one would you choose?
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Linking up here:
I took a break from other projects last week to make some new signs for Ruffles & Rust in Snohomish.
The “Mercantile” Sign is one I designed several weeks ago, but hadn’t done anything with! It was fun to see it come to life. It’s bigger than you think, about 2 ft x 10 in.
This one was my daughter’s favorite. It’s on a scrap piece of 1x8 wood, and would be perfect on a kitchen wall or shelf!
I used another piece of scrap wood for this “Guest Cottage” sign. I played a little with adding some curves, and I thought it made the sign a little more interesting.
The “Herboristerie” sign is huge! It’s 4 ft x 10 in. Wouldn’t it be great above some patio doors?
Which one do you like best?
Can you guess which one is my favorite?
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Visit my Etsy shop for custom signs and canvases!
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Linking up here:
I am suffering from a serious case of ADD lately. I should be posting more about the Handbuilt Bedroom, but I keep waiting for some LIGHT outside to I can take some better pictures INside.
Hasn’t happened yet.
Then while my little girl was sick last week, I started painting our downstairs bathroom. I mixed some colors I had on hand for the walls, but decided I hated it after I had done all the cutting in. Plus I ran out of paint before I could finish the ceiling, and haven’t gotten back to it yet!
Then there’s my little girls’ room…I bought new beds for them off of Craigslist a couple of weeks ago, and sold their bunk beds right out from under them…so they’ve been sleeping on mattresses on the floor while I try to get motivated to work on their space!
Well, in their case, I have done a couple of things. I got inspired to work on some artwork for their as-yet-unpainted walls!
Here’s the first…
(the “o” is a little globe, in case you can’t tell!)
…and the second…
…and the third!
I have had a three-pack of 9x12 canvases sitting in my closet for oh, about a year now… Glad to have finally done something with them!
I will eventually make these designs available in my Etsy shop. E-mail me at redhenhome@gmail.com if you’re interested before then!
Even before we moved to the Seattle area, I had heard from my little sister about a delightful little tourist-trap of a town called Snohomish. Isn’t it just lucky that our new home is only 10 miles from there?
One of our first outings then, naturally had to be to check out all the fun shops that line the main street of town. There are several that are definitely worth a visit, but one of my favorites is Ruffles & Rust. So one day when I was feeling particularly brave (it doesn’t happen that often), I asked one of the proprietors if maybe…possibly…if it wasn’t too much trouble…would they be interested in having some of my wares in their shop?? When she said YES, I was on Cloud 9 for the rest of the day!
Although I dropped off a few things (just to test the waters) last week, I had to go back to take a few pictures of what MY things look like in their delightful store! And of course, I have to share ;-)
Here are a couple of my ever-popular “Biscuits & Gravy” signs…
“Lemonade”’ and “I Love You Like Cupcakes” make an appearance…
Here’s one of my great big beadboard flags…
One of my “extra” chalkboards perches up high…
Here’s a “You are the Bubbles to my bath” canvas. You can’t tell, but “Bubbles” and a few of the bubbles are glitter-i-fied!
One thing that made me laugh was seeing my little chalkboard easel next to the Flea Market sign—because I made my own version of it last year! It made me do a little bit of a double-take!
There were a couple of things that I couldn’t find, and I hope that means they have sold to someone who will love them like I do!
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I do love selling through my Etsy shop, but there’s just something about a brick-and-mortar store, you know?? Don’t miss Ruffles & Rust if you’re in the area!
This morning I started going through my stash of already-completed signs and canvases, and discovered…there are a lot of them! Since we will be moving before Christmas, I decided to take this opportunity to “lighten the load” a little bit!
If you’re not thinking of Christmas presents yet…now would be a great time to start!
Most of these are available in my Etsy shop, and they will go on sale there in the next few days. So consider this a pre-sale. If you are interested in any, e-mail me directly at RedHenHome@gmail.com with what you want and your zip code, and I will send you a PayPal invoice. I am happy to combine shipping!
Note: For ease in shipping, the beadboard signs do not have hangers on them. I recommend the 3M Command strips; they work great!
Groceries. Antique white lettering on herb green background with black shadowing. 24” x 8”. $17 + shipping (estimate $8 Priority Mail)
I Love You Like Cupcakes. Antique white lettering on a bright pink background with black shadowing. 24” x 8”. $17 + shipping (estimate $8 Priority Mail)
Homemade Pumpkin Pie. Antique white lettering on a soft yellow background with orange shadowing. 24” x 8”. $17 + shipping (estimate $8 Priority Mail)
Groceries. Antique white lettering on soft yellow background. 24” x 8”. $17 + shipping (estimate $8 Priority Mail)
Homemade Doughnuts. Antique white lettering on a mottled orange and yellow background with black shadowing. 18” x 6”. $14 + shipping (estimate $7 Priority Mail)
Beautiful Things. Antique white lettering on medium blue beadboard, distressed. 13.5” x 20”. $22 + shipping (estimate $9 priority mail)
Useful & Beautiful. Antique white lettering on gray beadboard, distressed. 15” x 20”. $22 + shipping (estimate $9 priority mail)
Village Mercantile. Antique white lettering with black shadow on tan recycled cupboard door. Includes sawtooth hanger. 22.5” x 13.5”. $18 + shipping (estimate $12 shipping)
Frosty MALTS. Antique white lettering with black shadow on purple recycled cupboard door. Includes sawtooth hanger. 27” x 12”. $18 + shipping (estimate $12 shipping)
Juicy Berries. Antique white lettering with black shadow on bright green recycled cupboard door. Includes sawtooth hanger. 23” x 16.5”. $18 + shipping (estimate $14 shipping)
Vintage Goods. Black lettering on antique white beadboard, distressed. 28” x 10”. $22 + shipping (estimate $9 for Priority Mail) SOLD
Guest Cottage. Black lettering on antique white beadboard, distressed. 32” x 10”. $22 + shipping (estimate $9 Priority Mail) SOLD.
Biscuits & Gravy. Black lettering on red background with white shadowing. 24” x 8”. $17 + shipping (estimate $8 Priority Mail) SOLD
Antiquities 27. Black lettering on a red background, heavily distressed. 16” x 9.5”. $13 + shipping (estimate $7 Priority Mail) SOLD
Beach. Antique white lettering on pale blue plaque. Includes sawtooth hanger. 16” x 6.5”. $10 + shipping (estimate $7 Priority Mail shipping) SOLD
Babies Don’t Keep! Antique white lettering on aqua background, faded and distressed. 16” x 20”. $20 + shipping (estimate $9 Priority Mail) SOLD
All You Need is Love. Gray lettering, red hearts on antique white canvas, aged and distressed. 16” x 20”. $20 + shipping (estimate $9 Priority Mail) SOLD!
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I am happy to take custom orders as well! E-mail for prices.
