Distressed "Barn Style" Last Name Greeting Sign from Old Wood!

I had been awing and ooing over all these distressed signs made from old barn (or other) wood that people were making on different blogs. Pair that with the fact that I LOVE signs that have your last name on them, and I decided I was going to make my own sign!

Again, I dug in my pile of old wood and junk. I found a plank of wood that looked like it may have been an old piece of siding? It was beautiful! Still damp from the swamp water... But still had some fading seafoam green paint, cracks on the bottom, wear on the top and bottom - I loved it! So I brought it up to the house and let it dry in the sun and wind for a couple days until I could tell it had really dried through. 

I was impatient, like normal.

So I went on to this site where you can download lots of free, new fonts. You could even put your word (so I put my last name) on this preview and it showed you each font and what it would look like in the font you've chosen. This is so helpful because it is very hard to see what it would really look like bigger. Don't you agree? Anyways, the site is called DaFont. Check that out sometime for a project like this!

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of it before or during my process because I'm still getting used to this! I printed off a few pages of my lonnng last name. I just guessed on the right size. And I guess right, for once! I used an exacto knife and my cutting mat to cut out the letters on the paper to make it a stencil. Then tape it on tight to the sign exactly where you want it. It doesn't lay totally flat - but I tried my best. The font I happened to choose was more timber/rustic so if it got screwed up it would (hopefully) just add to the character. I took my el-cheapo white spray paint and tried it. It did nothing. So then I got out my cheap Folk Art white paint (just plain 'ole acrylic) and small paintbrush and went to work. 

Super fun painting. I let it dry and then did another coat. I carefully peeled off the stencil and there were a few places that had bled over with white paint but I just took my exacto knife again and scraped it away off the old wood. Then I took some clear protective spray I got at Ben Franklin. Man, I can't remember the name! But I sprayed it on the front of the sign for a few good coats. To hopefully prevent running of the paint.

Then I decided to go au-natural and nail it up on a tree that is right before the opening to our home. Very rustic. Very us. SO easy! I love my sign. I really do. Try it out!! I'm secretly hoping one of my family members or friends ask me to do one for them. 

Love the old wood...

Broken Red Wing crock :(

This did not take much work, but wanted to share the story. Our his sits in kind of a swampy area. We bought our home 1 year ago this week! In one spot there is a lot of old wood and rusty junk and it used to be the previous owners old junk pile. Believe me, I've sorted through this pile a few times looking for goodies. But it really is mostly junk.
So... I saw this before and never did anything about it. But now my CREATIVE side decided to do something with it! In the back, grown over with weeds, was an old crock. I went up to it - cringing - because it sure looked like a Red Wing that was broken to pieces. It was. So sad! It was sitting upright, but there were pieces piled up inside and out. I looked a little closer and tried to piece the pieces together and they fit!


I felt so bad for this girl that I hauled her back home to give her a good cleaning.

I sprayed her out, scrubbed her with some Dawn and let her dry outside.

Then I brought her in and opened up a new bottle of Instant Krazy Glue. I first did a few googles on what I should use on pottery. Some people were saying they were using some special pottery glue from this internet website - but I'm wayyy too impatient for that. I wanted to glue it that night.

The package on the glue said pottery. So I used it. I knew, even though she'd have a few scars, she'd be beautiful on my deck and used as a big planter! So excited!

Can't you picture some big red begonias pouring out of this 12 gallon crock?

Cost of this project... Free. Free broken crock. Krazy glue I had. But now I have a new, huge planter!

I'm kind of scaring myself with the attachment I feel to some of my projects... I am starting to call things "him" and "her".

Hello world!

Well, here I go... I've officially joined the blogging world.

An introduction:
My name is Alicia. I am married to a tall, dark and handsome man named Nate. We have 2 sweet but active boys - Cole (5) and Jack (3).

For the past 25 years (or... my entire life) - I haven't been that crafty. I was a tomboy and would rather catch snakes outside for $1.25/snake than watch my mom sew inside. Then I got older and it wasn't cool. Then I went to college... Got married... Started working full-time... And had 2 kids 2.5 years apart. My main goal each day was to keep the house somewhat clean and get out the door in time for work.

So about 1 month ago I got this urge to do something crafty. But I realized it wasn't just that I had a temporary urge. I was hooked! Unbelievably, my creative side was trying to EMERGE! I stayed up 'til all hours of the night just browsing through DIY blogs that I didn't even know they existed! A whole new world opened up that night.

My main point of this blog is to share with you some uber cute stuff that I find on other blogs and try myself. I am not quite to the point of doing my own crafts - I always need to steal good ideas. I also am learning to use my Pfaff sewing machine. The first time I used it about 4 weeks ago, I honestly didn't know where the bobbin was. No joke. So it's a learning process for me and I'm loving every project I do!

And... of course... as my blog title reads... I brake for garage sales! I love them. Thanks, mom, for hauling me around with my $5 allowance to every garage sale in town when I was younger. It planted a seed and is now an obsession. The garage sale season in MN is just starting! I love to see and share all the good finds from them. I get very jealous of other people's finds. And when I say garage sales - I also mean yard sales, thrift stores, estate sales, auctions - anything!

When you mix DIY blogs and re-purposing things AND garage sales - you have a potent mix! YAYYYYY!