Abe Lincoln Sign

Haley has gotten me on a sign kick! I have so many that I want to make, but I'll be moving soon and it's pointless to decorate at this point! Anyway, I couldn't resist dragging out my husband's miter saw to slice up a couple of boards for this quote from Abraham Lincoln. He said, "My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right." How can you not love that? I love it when famous people who have made a difference trust in God, and this is a perfect example. Everything that I used for this project was already on hand, some boards that Linwood hadn't burned in our fireplace this winter, wood conditioner, stain (dark walnut by Minwax), some Valspar paint (Statuesque), and some finishing paste by Minwax.
I love my silhouette more every time I use it! I measured the size the boards would be when I put them together and decided on a font. Then I cut the letters, peeled off the extra vinyl, and applied it to the stained, dry surface. I tried to make sure every letter was pressed down well, I didn't want paint all up under my lettering! With my last sign it didn't much matter, it was supposed to look worn through. This one  though, I wanted to be crisp and precise. After making sure the lettering was pressed down as well as I could, I went ahead and painted on a layer of the Valspar. I never know if you are supposed to wait for it to dry or not. I try... and then give up shortly after. I don't want to wait around, I want to see what I made! So this is how it turned out in the end, after it all dried, got sanded, wood pasted, and I antiqued with Annie Sloan dark wax.
~Rachel

 

 

 

 

Heat Transfer Vinyl

One of the reasons that I wanted to get the Silhouette was because of it's vinyl cutting abilities. The possibilities are endless! I ordered some heat transfer from amazon (still expensive) and decided to test it out. I'd seen a shirt on Pinterest that Linwood and I joked about that said, "My Wife is Hot." I decided to practice on a couple of shirts that were at Michaels on sale for under two dollars. So I cut the junk on my machine, which worked quite well, and then peeled off the background to leave only the letters that I wanted transferred. I heated my iron and ironed and ironed! Some of it didn't want to come off, so I just ironed more! The end result I was happy with, and my husband looks nice in his new shirt ;) I decided to take one of my parents favorite movie quotes (Princess Bride- I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!) and make a throw pillow for part of my mom's Mother's Day gifts. Actually... I hope she doesn't see this before then! Oh well :) Enjoy the pictures!
~Rachel