I'll Fly Away: A DIY 'vintage' sign

So I made it through Round 2 of One Month To Win It!  Thanks to everyone who voted this week. 

This week's challenge at One Month to Win It was to make something using DecoArt products. DecoArt makes so many different products and types of paint, it was pretty tough to choose just one project. But in the end, their regular craft paint was exactly what I needed. I love vintage signs and have wanted to make my own version for awhile. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. 

I love the old gospel song "I'll Fly Away" - you know the song right?  From O Brother Where Art Thou? I love the words, the toe-tapping music, and the old-fashioned feel of it and decided it was the perfect 'vintage' message for my sign.

I started with three colors of paint and a 2'x2' piece of plywood. I painted the Turquoise Blue right onto the wood and then randomly dry-brushed on some of the Calypso Blue to add some dimension. I drew the letters with pencil and used a tiny paintbrush and white paint to fill them in. Then came the part that is always a bit scary - I sanded off a bunch of the design I had just painstakingly painted. Yikes. I wanted this to look like it had some age, so I sanded it pretty heavily. To finish it off, I rubbed Minwax dark walnut stain all over the entire sign.

The result is pretty authentic looking if you ask me. Plus I get a burning desire to start tapping my foot or burst out in song every time I look at it. And that's always a good thing.

Before I sign off, I wanted to say thanks for all the great comments on my husband's guest post Wednesday.  They really made his day.  I think he did a really great job with both the project and the post and I may just have to invite him to share more projects in the future.

I also want to say thanks to Tatertots and Jello for featuring my arrow lockers, Days of Chalk and Chocolate for featuring my French Opera Table, and A Diamond in the Stuff for featuring my mappy typewriter stand.

I'm sharing this project at Tatertots and Jello, Positively Splendid, Knick of Time, Mod Vintage Life, A Diamond in the Stuff, Not Just a Housewife, Home Stories A to Z, Sweet Little Gals, Primp, Domestically Speaking, The 36th Avenue, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Crafty Scrappy Happy and Funky Junk Interiors.