Paint Stirrer Signs! Pin.002

This pin has finally made it into reality! I originally pinned this a year ago. I have realised why this took me so long to get round to doing.. because it takes absolutely ages, and needs quite a bit of preparation! In retrospect, this may not have been worth the hassle! But then again, as always, I did make it harder than it needed to be!

The original source for this pin is from: 'Today'sFabulousFinds'. I wanted to make a sign for our toilet rather than making a Christmas one (though I may do this later) so I used my own template rather than the one provided on the blog. A few other differences: they  used paint stirrers... I used odd bits of wood I had lying around. They had a Laserjet printer and I have an Inkjet printer. On the blog it says if you have an inkjet printer it won't work. However! there is a way around this which I'll get to later.

Needed for 'paint-stirrer' signs:
Pieces of spare wood (or paint stirrers)
Emulsion
Inkjet or Laserjet Printer
Scrapbook paper
Clear varnish or PVA glue
Paintbrush
Holepunch
String
Electric drill to make holes in the wood.

This the wood I used. It measured 11.7 x 10.2cm. Random I know...

I made my own template on Photoshop Elements and made sure the image was the same size as the wood. I tried printing the letters in cream but for some unknown reason it did not want to print so I settled for black.

The paper I was used was craft paper I bought ages ago from my local craft shop. The paper measured 15.1 x 15.1cm, so I had to go into the printer settings to make sure it printed okay. It came out like this:

To dry it out, I then put the picture in the FREEZER for a couple of hours! A tip I found here, suggested doing this with images printed from Inkjet printers so that they don't smudge or blur when you put varnish or glue over them. I painted the wood with Wilkinson's emulsion in 'Soft Cream'. I just bought one of those small testers for £1. I gave the wood 2 coats of paint, letting it dry in between.

I backed the printed image with another piece of scrapbook paper and tried sticking it on, but it didn't work out too well :-(

I only put glue round the edges of the brown paper so when I stuck it to the green and to the wood it had huge air bubbles in it in the centre! It did not look good! I tried to smooth them out but to no avail, so I had to start again, doh! Here's my second copy:

I stuck the printed scrapbook paper onto another piece of scrapbook paper, using glue all over it this time, though only a thin layer. I then made hole punches in it where the string goes. I stuck these onto the wood... and covered in a thin layer of varnish.

I then drilled holes in the wood and threaded the string through and Ta-Da, one toilet sign!

I liked the outcome but man.. did this take ages!! If you want to do this, consider using the paint stirrers and paint stirrer templates, as it can be quite fiddly with sizing if you do it all from scratch! It was worth the time though - I love it!

Click on the image below to see the recipe and Hungry Husband Rating for Pin. 003 'Microwave Chocolate Mug Brownie!'