General Store Sign - Silhouette Portrait Project #5

I made this General Store sign using my Silhouette Portrait.

This is not how it started out...but this is how it ended up!

  

 

I went to Home Depot and found 4 foot 1x12's on sale for $2 each - which I cut in half for this sign.

 

After sanding the edges and painting it white, I rounded all the corners with my sander. 

(This is painted yellow for another sign.)

 

 

I cut the words out on black contact paper on my Silhouette and after weeding them (pulling the contact paper I don't need off), I used clear contact paper to transfer them to the wood.

 

 

This is what my sign was going to look like, originally

 

 

There was too much blank space on this big sign, even though it looks fine in the picture...  So I cut out the words"General Store" and thought back to my childhood summers at the lake.  These are the items I remember a general store on a lake would carry....including worms!

 

 

After the words were arranged, I painted brown craft paint, diluted with water all over the sign.  I wasn't worried about the brush marks because I wanted it to have an aged look, and was going to sand it.

 

 

 When it was almost completely dry I removed all the black contact paper, leaving the off white lettering exposed.  I then sanded it down well....it should read beer-soda-ice...not BEE!   
I got a little crazy with the sander! 

I finished by wiping on a minwax polyshades stain in Pecan all over the sign and then immediately wiping off.    The result was the aged effect I wanted!

 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with it.  Although it's not my favorite project - it did give me more practice with the Silhouette and now I'm ready to tackle some Subway Art.

What do you think? 
Do you use contact paper or vinyl to make signs?

Sharing the love at these awesome parties: Brag About It - VMG206, Whip it Up Weds @ Naptime is My Time, Create & Share @ Trendy Treehouse, Penny Pinching @ The Thrifty Home, Wow Me Weds @ Polka Dot on Parade, Wow Us Weds @ Savvy Southern Style, Centerpiece Weds @ The Style Sisters,