My husband asked me to create a medium
sized Food Bank sign.
Of course, I said yes!
Here is the coloured template I came up with.
Here is the original pencil drawing
Here it is again, but this time in ink
Here is an alternate colour variation
We decided that the blue was the best choice
Here is a close up of the original, coloured grocery bag
Below is an image of the grocery bag altered in PHOTOSHOP.
I softened the lines and adding highlights to the food, as well as
replacing rough print to a much clearer text
I decided to print off the student association link rather than paint it on
because the printed version is much more clear and uniform
than the paint would have been
The next step is to prime the surface of the board I chose to use.
NOTE: My husbands aunt Brenda gave me a whole bunch of
wood and masonite pieces that she no longer had use for...
I am thankful for the gift, and I will find a use for all of them :)
Next, I drill two holes into the top of the board in preparation
for hanging later.
I wanted to do this BEFORE I added paint to the surface because I didn't want to accidentally
damage it.
I also found the font I wanted to use for my sign, I printed off all
the letters I needed, cut them out and traced them on to
the board
Here it is with all letters in pencil
The next step is to paint all the letters black
I can now apply my first coat of blue to the background
Below, I painted all the letters with 2 coats of white, leaving a very slim line of the
original black around the perimeter.
Have a look...
I have also applied a second coat of blue to my background...
I allowed the sign to dry completely and then sanded the entire
surface to make the paint look aged.
Now it's time to prepare the grocery bag cut outs for decoupage...
First though, I must do a bleed test.
As you can see in the image below, I used Mod Podge (decoupage glue) on
the first sample...I'm not sure if you can see it or not, but, because mod podge is applied with a brush,
the colours on the grocery bag bled onto the white background.
This issue led me to try another approach.
Yes, that's right, I used hairspray.
I have seen hairspray used to seal chalk drawings, so I figured it could
work for this too.
The only problem...
my husband had a terrible allergic reaction to it :(
As soon as I saw how hoarse he became, I threw out all the hairspray I had immediately.
I very rarely use hairspray which is why I had no idea he would have such a
strong reaction to it.
On the bright side though...it worked like a charm :)
It created just enough of a seal that I could use the Mod Podge to decoupage it
to my sign without any bleeding whatsoever.
AWESOME!
Here I have added the grocery bag and student association link using Podge.
I repeated this entire procedure on the reverse side as well because it is a
two sided sign.
Here is a close up view of how the decoupage glue appears when first
applied...it's white, but don't worry, it dries completely clear.
The final step is to seal both sides.
I used Mod Podge again...yes, it's also a sealer.
I applied two coats per side.
In the next picture you see the finished sign
Here it is hanging at the school
I hope you enjoyed this post...
Decoupage is fun, I hope you give it a try sometime.
Until next time, Be Creative :)
