Salvaged Barn Wood Sign

Thanks for all the great replies to my Design Trend post! I myself try to do my own thing when it comes to decorating- I like to think my style is unique. But I love to look at what other people are doing and see what cool new trends come along each year. It's neat to hear how other people feel about it too.


Today I wanted to share a fun project I made out of some salvaged barn wood. I scored it a few months ago when I was searching for some salvaged wood for my coffee table project. I was at my favorite salvage shop when I saw these guys sitting out front:

I asked the owner about them- he said it was pieces of wood from an old barn. I asked how much he wanted for them- and he said I could just have them!! SCORE!

This was back in October and I finally did something with one of the pieces. They are both pretty large and I thought the rectangular one would make a really cool sign I could sell on consignment. I wanted to keep them as rustic as possible because I really like the character it has. So I gave it a light sanding and cleaned up any cobwebs and junk on it.

Then I smeared a bunch of Gorilla Wood Glue on the back to fill in any crevices. I did this to to try and make it more study and strong.

Once the wood was all prepped I used my Silhouette to create a "HOME" cut out and painted it white with some DecoArt paints.

Next I sanded the wording down a little to give it an aged vintage look.

Next to add a little whimsy I again used my Silhouette to cut out a Fleur De Lis and painted it gold.

Then I used some clear sealant and sealed the whole thing. It gave the wood a rich look.

I think it turned out pretty cool and hopefully someone else will too!  

Oh Oh OH! I almost forgot- this past weekend I started work in Con-Man's new Big Boy Bed! I got a lot done in the short amount of time I was there. Check it out!

Those 2 boxes are the bottom part of this:

Oh and guess what else! I'm super pumped because we're are leaving for a family vacation to Disney World tomorrow! The hubs and I haven't been since we were small, and it will be Con-Man's first time going. I can't wait! But not to worry- I have lots of posts lined up in the meantime. So if I don't respond to something right away it's not that I'm ignoring you; it's because I'm schmoozing it up with Mickey Mouse. :D

*Due to the large amount of spam comments have been disabled*

Latest Thrifty-ness

A friend and I decided to venture out of Altus and check out some of the thrift/ antique stores the surrounding cities. Our first stop was Blair, OK. Calling it a city is a stretch; its more of a town. (The high school, middle school, and elementary are all in the same building!) But it's the closest town to Altus so thats where we went.


The best place we went was Schoolhouse Collectibles. I knew it was going to be awesome the minute we drove up. Outside treasure trove of rusty junk. We had to stop here. 

(These wheels are as tall as I am! I wanted one but it was a little unnecessary) 

There was one guy working there and they are only open on Saturdays. Though he was really nice I thought his prices were a bit high (I mean we are out in the middle of nowhere...). I felt like I'd pay the same prices back in San Antonio.

So while there was a ton of stuff I wanted I only walked away with 3 things. Which is bad because I told the hubs I wouldn't buy anything- oh well!

The first thing I got was this old ceiling tin.

It's a little beat up, I literally dug it out of the ground. He sold it to me for $10- not bad considering the shape it's in. I figure I can make something out of it.

The first thing I saw when we walked inside was this Fleur de Lis frame. 

I love Fleur de Lis, they reminds me of home in Louisiana. There were a few of them all marked $7 and up. I liked the frame on this one so I grabbed it.

The other thing I got was this Stop Sign and I now consider it my most prized possesion. 

That might be weird but when I saw it I fell in love- I've always wanted a stop sign! And the bullet holes in it just made it that much cooler. 

He had some other stop signs priced around $40, but some of the older ones were more like $60. This one wasn't marked. So I asked him- he glanced around and said $40. After some friendly banter about LSU and Oklahoma I asked him if he'd take $30. For an LSU fan he said he would. Later I think he realized that he gave me a better deal than he wanted because he kept saying the older ones like mine usually go for more and that I could sell it for double that if I wanted. So I quickly paid and got out of there before he changed his mind!

The hubs was not so impressed with my sign. My idea of hanging it in the dining room didn't seem to thrill him all that much. I thought it would be funny hanging over our wine rack- he wasn't so sure. (The fact that I had told him I wasn't going to buy anything in the first place didn't help I'm sure)


After mulling it over I had an epiphany. Con-Man's room! Soon I'm going to redo his room in a car theme- the Stop Sign will be perfect! He's going to be the coolest kid on the block. I'm so excited about it.


How about everyone else? Any good thrifting adventures lately? Every bring something home that raises your spouses eyebrows?

Another Pallet Sign: Happy Halloween

I had such a good time fooling around with the Silhouette the other day that I wanted to play with it some more this week. I had some pallet wood leftover from the last pallet project and went about painting it up.

I knew I wanted candy corns as embellishment. I totally lucked out that the day I went to look Silhouette download of the day was candy corn! I know there not that expensive to download but I still like getting the free ones when I can!

This was a fun little (free!) project to get us further into the Halloween Spirit!

Linking to

Pallet Wood Sign

This past weekend I was talking about how much I liked pallet wood. I mean it's free wood what's not to love? 


So I thought I would put my money where my mouth is and go find me a pallet. It wasn't that hard, there seem to be a bunch of them lying around our small town. I thought that I'd need my husband's truck to pick one up since Con-Man and I rock the Murano. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that one pallet fits perfectly in the back of my car!

Once i got it home and unloaded I tried prying the planks off with my hammer. But the wood seemed like it was going to split. I mean, this pallet did not want to be taken apart. Has anyone else had this problem? If I'm really going to use pallet wood for my new dining table I need to figure this problem out. Anyway in the end I used my circular saw to cut pieces off. Take that pallet!

Once I got my pieces off they were splintery and rough. So I sanded the wood down A LOT to make them smooth.

Before

After

To get the size I needed for my sign I clamped 2 wood pieces together. First with a little Gorilla Wood Glue on the edges and finished off with some mending plates.

To make the decorative wording on the sign I figured it was finally time to use the Silhouette I won from Donna at Funky Junk Interiors. I typed up some some wording that from a song I've always liked. The song "You Are My Sunshine" was written by a past Louisiana Governor and has always had a special place in my heart.

I filled in the stencil I had created with blue paint, then came back with white paint to highlight the wording. The sanded it some to distress it.

This was a fun little project because not only did I get to practice tearing apart a pallet I got to use my Silhouette for the first time! I can see why so many people love them.

What do you think? Have you had a pallet experience you'd like to share? Have you used a Silhouette before?

And don't forget tomorrow is the last day to enter the Dremel Giveaway!!