Making Pretties

Sometimes I stumble on something I just can't walk away from. Leaning up against one of my favorite antique stores I found an old, weathered sign. It was ragged, it was peeling and it was puckered. It was beautiful.

I practically ran into the store to see how much the owner wanted for it. She smiled a big smile. "Take it," she said with a wave of the hand. Her expression clearly indicating she thought I was a loon. But as they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Tony took out the center and left the lovely edge. That was the part I was really interested in. He filled the center with left over tongue and groove paneling and put the whole thing back together. He is a genius.

This was my canvas.

I added some stain.

Then I had to decide what I was going to put on the sign. I searched, studied, browsed and finally came up with what I wanted my new mantle piece to say. Let me just tell you, in case you were wondering, hand lettering signs is not easy.

And here is my final product. I love it. It's simple and worn and bright.

As a bonus, I kept the old part of the sign that came out of the middle and lettered it too! I think this will go on my front porch.

Now to get back to the snowball of projects going on inside my house. Sigh. It never ends. My house is under perpetual construction. Literally.