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Tuesday, November 30

Vintage / Shabby EAT Letters

My DIY Shabby, Vintage EAT Letters!
I've been seriously inspired by some of the things I've seen around here over the past week.

The truth is, it's been far too long since I've pulled out the spray paint and sand paper. The past year with our twin baby boys has been one of sheer survival. It hasn't left much time for crackling or glittering.

But I am feeling more like me every day now, and it's time to get back to doing what I love!

So last night, after all 3 kidsthe hubby and 2 dogs were asleep, I pulled out my craft supplies and got working on a couple of mini projects I've been imagining up for awhile.

The first project was to create vintage looking letters for my kitchen that spell EAT (my favorite thing!). Given my lack of time for crafting recently, I considered buying the letters if I could find what I was looking for. Etsy had lots of great options, but nothing was exactly what I had imagined. And, the ones that were in the right category, cost a lot mote than I was willing to pay. So I decided to try it out myself.

I purchased large standard mdf letters from Michael's.

They weren't exactly the font I would have chosen, but the choices were limited.

Next I sprayed them with a coat of Robin's Egg Blue spray paint and waited for them to dry.

Next came the crackling coat, which I painted on with a small brush.

An hour later, that was dry, and my letters were ready for a top coat of white acrylic which I applied by brush (I find that a spray top coat doesn't work well when crackling).


When the crackling coat had worked it's magic on the white paint, and it had dried, I took out a pair of scissors and used one of the blades to sand the edges of the letters to give them a more authentic and aged look. I'm not gonna lie, that's when things got messy!

When that was completed to my satisfaction, I used some chocolate brown stamping ink on a sponge to add an even greater aged effect to the edges.



The final step was a top coat of clear spray varnish, and presto! I had my vintage EAT letters for a fraction of the cost. They turned out just as I had imagined!
















Now, the big question becomes, where to put them in my kitchen!







Click here!


As seen on CraftGossip.com





Linked to the Weekend Wrap Up at




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5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love these! Your finish is just perfect.

That is a great print you got from
Graphic Fairies. I am addicted to her prints.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Take care,
Lisa

December 1, 2010 at 10:32 PM  
Blogger Life, Crafts and Whatever said...

I found you thru the link party on Tater Tots and Jello. This is super cute! I love the blue color you picked. I'm also a "craft now, decide where they go later" type of crafter. I too have an "eat" sign theme in my kitchen.

http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/2010/12/talk-eat-and-laugh-my-kitchen-letters.html

I'm new to blogging, I just signed up to follow you, and I'd love if you'd stop by and check out my blog and maybe return the favor. Take care!

January 2, 2011 at 7:55 PM  
Blogger Amanda said...

Just dropping by to let you know that I linked to this post in a round up today from the Home & Garden channel at Craft Gossip. :) You can see the feature here
http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/9-eat-sign-projects/

If you would like a "featured by" button, you can grab one here!
http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/grab-a-craft-gossip-button/

January 2, 2011 at 8:32 PM  
Anonymous Wood Letters said...

Wow!! Those turned out great. We love to see projects like these using wooden letters. Thanks for sharing. If you or your readers need a source for wooden letters be sure to check us out.

CustomWoodenLetters.com

January 18, 2011 at 3:49 PM  
Blogger Shannon said...

Oh my goodness!! LOVE these!! Good job!
Shannon
{aka}|design

February 20, 2011 at 2:20 PM  

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