Monday, September 21, 2009

Be Grateful Sign

I know it's a bit early for Thanksgiving, but I still wanted to post about this great tutorial of Joy's that she gave last year.


When I first saw her sign, I just fell right in love with it. I ADORED it. But it was just a few weeks before Thanksgiving, and I didn't get my rear in gear in time to make it last year. So I made sure I was on top of things this year and made one of my own. You can head over to Joy's blog and read her awesome tutorial if you want to make one too.

I did just a few things differently than Joy. She suggests tea staining the tags to get a similiar look as hers, which I did end up doing. Just get some cheap black tea bags from Wal-Mart. Dunk the tags (I also used a small sponge brush to soak the paper), let them dry a bit, then squash them between some paper towels and heavy books while they dry out. This is what my tags ended up looking like before adding anything.

Oh, and I did age them with a brown stamp pad BEFORE tea-staining them.

Also, I didn't add the decorative trim to the bottom. Other than those things, I tried to follow her tutorial pretty closely so mine would look as beautiful as hers :)

Here's a close up of some of the tags.

Here are some other helpful tips:

The tags and sticker letters can be found at the craft store in the scrapbooking section. I got the medium-size tags (about 4 1/2 inches tall).

The upholstery tacks I just got at Wal-Mart by all the other nuts and bolts.

I cut my board to 26 1/2 inches long and it was about 5 1/2 inches tall.

The spray paint I used (recommended by Joy) was Krylon Satin Black and Rustoleum Colonial Red.


Not only is the sign just too cute, it was also a lot of fun to make. Thanks again Joy!

P.S. Fall wreath behind the sign . . . $3.00 at the Goodwill (where else?)

6 comments:

Taryn and Sterling said...

why didn't you invite me over to make one with you? You know I have been wanting to be crafty! Looks beautiful!

Laura said...

super cute!!! I'm with Taryn, we should have a craft night!

Erin said...

Karyn, you are awesome. I remember that post on Joy's blog. I can totally do it now since you told me everything I need to get and where to get it from. It just became my new project! Yay!

tyandlinds said...

so super cute. so did you really get a matching chair at goodwill? love it

MaRiN said...

OK, I'm totally making this one. Love the look of the tags...such a great idea! Thanks for sharing.

Kelly said...

I love this! It's such a great idea and helps to remind us just how much we are blessed with. I think I may have to pay a visit to Hobby Lobby to get some tags and do this one this afternoon!