Thursday, December 6, 2012

Maligayang Pasko

I am so proud of myself for actually seeing a project through, start to finish, in a day. :)

Maligayang Pasko

“Maligayang Pasko” is how you say “Merry Christmas” in the Philippines!

When I saw these posts on House of Hepworths, I was totally inspired. I knew I could do something similar for Christmas.

 

First, I went to my Gypsy (for Cricut) and designed a “Maligayang Pasko” using mostly the Calligraphy Collection font but a little of Gypsy Font. (The “li” were in the Gypsy font, just so I could get the cursive layout how I wanted it.)

Maligayang Pasko on the Gypsy for Cricut

Since we’ve taken our fence down, we’ve got this pile of fence panels in the back yard. So I figured they would be perfect for this project.

taking boards off a fence panel

I set my Gypsy/Cricut design for the largest cutting mat, 12”x24”, so I knew I wanted my sign to be bigger than that. I measured the boards of the fence panel and decided I needed about 9 (which was about 32”), so I took about 11 off the panel (just to be safe since some were cracking).  (I decided to make two signs, one for myself and one for someone special who has to wait till Christmas to get it!)

cutting the boards, attaching them back together

I decided to use the greenish, weathered sign, since it looked like it could be festive. :)

I cut each one of my boards to about 19.5” (a random measurement that looked good to me!).  I cheated by just cutting the boards around the sections with the nails in them (that were previously holding the fence together). (The nail-y scrap pieces went straight into the garbage/burn pile.) 

I found another scrap board in the back yard that I to cut to the width of my sign as a backer for all the fence pieces. I used 5/8” 18ga nails in the nail gun to attach the planks to the back boards. (I should have also used some glue. Oh well.) I put those little nails in the front and back of the wooden sign.  Once it was all together, I gave everything a quick sanding with some old 100 grit paper.

Then I collected some paint and stuff.

paint and spray glue

I cut the first “Maligayang Pasko” (on the Cricut) out of freezer paper (shiny side down). (I think posterboard or something would have been ideal, but I didn’t have a piece around that was big enough or a new cutting mat that was sticky enough.)  I sprayed some adhesive on the back of the cutout, then placed it onto my first set of boards. It was really sticky, which was good for my rough boards.  Then I sprayed the whole thing with several light coats of red spray paint.

Maligayang Pasko reverse stencil

When I peeled off the stencil, I was so happy with the results!

Maligayang Pasko sign in progress

But, as cool as this green looks in the picture, in real life, it wasn’t quite what I wanted yet, so I decided to brighten up the lettering with some white paint. I took a small artists brush and some oil-based white paint diluted with mineral spirits (so it would be a little thinner and slightly runny) to keep everything looking weathered and rustic. (Latex paint probably wouldn’t have stuck to the spray paint/rough boards as well.)

painting in the letters of the sign

For fun and added interest, I splattered a bit of white paint around, and spread some white paint on the edges with a  bunched up paper towel.

Maligayang Pasko

I was finally in love with the sign. I added to the weathered old look by running the sander with some old 100 grit paper lightly over the whole thing. Then I sprayed it all with some clear coat to seal everything in.  Doesn’t it look great?

Here it is again on the mantel!

DSC_0663-002

I made two signs, start to finish, in a day, and both were done completely with stuff I already had around the house. Woohoo for a completed and free project!

What do you think? Will you be trying a decorative sign made of old boards? :)

11 comments:

  1. Awesome job! Love the finishing touches...the paint splatters and white around the edges.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Rachael! (See why I love the Cricut so much?) :)

      Delete
  2. Awesomest....if there is such a word. I am jealous! but most proud. Can you post the sign on facebook please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! You won't be jealous for too long ;) I'm posting it to facebook now! :)

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I absolutely LOVE this sign! It looks like something out of a designer magazine! Now I want one every room of my house!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Philippines have the longest Christmas Celebration We celebrate Christmas starting from the month os September down to January
    christmas in the philippines

    ReplyDelete
  6. Having read your post, I am compelled to give thumps up to your post and let you to take betterment in academic with Assignment Help Online Service. You have completed the half journey of your assignment completion.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Readers are always admiring informational blogs, and this is truly one of them. You did a great job. If you want to enhance writing skills, Sourceessay.com based assignment writer is the best solution for you. Dissertation writing Service Johor Bahru

    ReplyDelete

  8. Getting Geothermal Engineering Assignment Help from our geothermal engineering assignment services is instructed since it will help you gain the best knowledge and complete your assignment by the timeframe without any challenges. Our Geothermal Engineering experts are PhD experts that have through extensive training to deliver the best assignment solutions to you. We also accept urgent command for the task. Use our Online Assignment Help writing services at your convenience for completion.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...