Thanksgiving Sign

It was a weekend of firsts for me! First I made my first loaf of artisan bread and then I decided to remake a sign I already had. I've never done this before but I figure it's only paint so why not give it a go! This used to have the word "Simplify" on it. First I sprayed it with some gray primer that I had and then I used one of the millions of little sample pots from Benjamin Moore that I have from testing paint over the years and gave it about two coats.

I printed out the words "Give Thanks" on my computer (I think I used 200 font size) and then I used one of my daughter's artist charcoal sticks and rubbed that on the back of the paper over the letters. I've used just a regular pencil for this when I did some writing on one of my walls and you could also use chalk.

Then you position your word on your board (charcoal/chalk side down) and start tracing around your letters. I used a pencil. You want to be able to see your letters when you lift up the paper

Then I filled in the letters with some black paint. I used a small squared off brush. When it was all dry I took a damp rag and wiped off the excess charcoal and lightly sanded the piece to make it look not so new.

Now I have a whole new sign and it didn't cost me anything but time! You'll be seeing this one again as I plan on re-doing it for Christmas (and probably every other holiday)! I'm going to try a more cursive font next time. For those of you have made one of these before, is it better to use a paint pen?

So if you have an old sign that you're tired of, re-invent it!