Green Monster Weathered Sign

This summer, we took the most amazing trip to Massachusetts. 

 Our last day there, we took a tour of Fenway Park...amazing.

I have always wanted to paint a "Green Monstah" sign on Riley's wall, but because we move so much I needed to make it portable.  This is what I came up with.

Since this year is the 100th Anniversary of Fenway Park, I wanted the sign to look weathered, just like I cut it out of an old fence.

This is the wall before you go out to the "Green Monstah". 

The pic on the top, my boys sitting in the "Green Monstah" seats (I based my color green on this picture).  The pic on the bottom, the Fam in awe that we are standing on the "Green Monstah".

Okay, lets get started.  Over the summer, I went to a Nursery and asked for a couple of their pallets.  They were happy to get rid of them and even loaded them in  my car.  I took a hammer and removed all the boards from the base.  I then sanded the side to be painted.  I took 3 more boards and cut them down to screw to the backside.  When I say cut, I used a hand saw...so proud of myself.

 

You cannot buy the color Fenway Park Green, if you do want to buy it, it is $975,000,000 to buy the ballpark and then you will get the patent.

I used Behr PREMIUM PLUS Interior Flat Enamel (Home Depot, small can).

 The gentleman matched my pic for the color.

This is what I used for the white lettering...did not need 2 bottles.  I applied the paint with sponge wedges, worked perfect.  I bought these at Michaels because I was already there.  I would have got them much cheaper at Walmart in the makeup department :)

I printed out the letters on my computer, taped them together and then took a pencil and deep traced them onto the board.   I removed the letters and used the sponge wedges to paint.  I did use 2 coats.  After all was dry, I took a small paint brush and the green paint and did touch ups.  I purchased a sanding block from Hobby Lobby and roughed it up a little.

For hanging, I used screws and 20 gauge wire that we had in the tool chest.

Riley loved this for his 12th birthday and it was joy to make for him.

This is the next sign I am going to attempt to make for him :)

DIY Canvas Photos

I have seen all over Pinterest these DIY Canvas Photos.  I have always thought they looked beautiful and wanted to try it.  So I finally did!  We have a curved stairwell and haven't put anything on it.  I wanted to do the boys pictures and I knew I wanted them huge.  While looking for pictures I ran across our last years Christmas photos...that was it.

I had purchased this dual pack of canvas at 18x24.  When I looked on all the sites for poster prints, they do 20x30, I knew I was going to have to cut some picture off.  On a couple of sites, they were going to charge me $24 a print and I had 3.  So I did it on Costco.com and was able to choose Sepia and my posters were ready next day to pick up for $9 each.

After I picked up my posters, I went back on to Pinterest...not realizing I should have printed them on paper.  Next time I might go to Staples and have them print it on paper...don't know if it would be cheaper.  This was time consuming, but well worth it because I did it!!!!!!

Supplies:

Canvas Value Pack - $11 for 2 at Joann's

Modge Podge

Foam Brushes

Paint Brush

Americana Acrylic Paint - Khaki Tan

Versa Magic Chalk - Jumbo Java

ExactoKnife

This is how I painted the canvas.  I did not want to use black, so I took my prints to Hobby Lobby and matched the paint.  Yes those are plastic bowls under there.  Worked Awesome!

After the paint was dry, I painted the whole canvas with Modge Podge and put my picture on.  After that dried, I used my exactoknife to cut off all those extra inches.  I used a Sanding Sponge to make my edges flush, when I did that, my borders turned white...aaaaggggghhhh!  So I ran up to the craft room and found some brown chalk.  I chalked all 4 sides.  Now I am wishing for black sides!

From lots of tutorials, they would just paint on the Modge Podge.  I did not want that look because my pictures were low resolution so I decided to try a sponging technique with a household sponge.  There were too many bubbles...so another trip to Hobby Lobby and a 40% off coupon I bought a Goat Hair Mop Round brush...worked amazing, yes there were still tiny bubbles, but I could go over them and they would pop.  I ended up painting two coats of Modge Podge to give it a really great texture.

I am trying to show you the texture...looks like canvas...ha ha...it worked!

Now, I am a crafter, I am so impatient.  I did not wait for the first coat to dry, so the black shirts look like they have white on them :(  If you are going to paint 2 coats...wait for the first to dry.

This is what I look at from my kitchen sink.  I absolutely love it.

This is just a great start to hang more :)

Fall Front Entry

Happy Fall Y'all!

 

I love looking at front porches for the fall.  I have always wanted to do something, but thought my stoop was too small.  I tell you, my next house is going to have the biggest farmers porch.

This is it...pretty simple, but I love it.

This is my favorite part.

  All foliage is fake...Dollar Tree, spent $6 total and broke bunches apart. Wagon, scarecrow and wreath came from Christmas Tree Shops. I have been looking for a wagon that did not cost a fortune...$16..."don't you just love a bargain?" If you are from New England, you know that jingle!

 Pumpkins, gourds and mums came from Kroger. 

Never knew rabbits are so fond of mums.  The backside of this mum is stripped...rabbits!

The urns I bought last season from Big Lots for $20.  I filled them with dirt and the pumpkin is sitting on that, then fake leaves and flowers are stuck in the dirt.

The beauty of this is everything but the mums, gourds and pumpkins can be saved until next year...te he!