IT SOUNDED GOOD IN THEORY

You ever have some of those ideas in your head for a project, and in your mind it looks great, but halfway through the project you determine that in all likelihood it will turn out completely different?  Yeah, I had one of those ideas yesterday.

It started out with loving the look of the subway signs that Restoration Hardware are selling for way over my budget these days.  I thought to myself, how hard could it be to recreate those, but on a smaller scale.  I had recently purchased some one half inch plywood for another project idea ( I'll let you know how that one turns out later), and had some scrap pieces left over that I knew would be the perfect size.  I painted the piece black and then thought about what I could use for lettering.

Again, not having the budget to buy one of those fancy vinyl letter cutting machines, I had to resort to the old standby of stencils.  I looked at our local craft store, and in a town of only 3,000, let me tell you, they don't carry much.  I couldn't find any lettering stencils, but I did find a style of stickers, which were actually on card stock, so that I could trace around them.

In my mind, it didn't think it would take as long as it did to place each letter onto the board and then trace around them, but I was already too far into the project to turn back now, so I trudged onward until all the locations were traced onto the board.  Again, in my mind, I pictured the lettering going so much more different than it turned out to be.  What I pictured was Urban Chic, but what I got was Rustic French Country.

After distressing and waxing, it certainly doesn't look all that bad, and in the right location, would look pretty adorable with the right accessories, kinda like this French Patisserie sign I had made the day before.  It looks fantastic on the World War 2 suitcase that Cori and I purchased at auction last February.  Since no one wanted it either at the consignment space or at Farm Chicks I brought it home with me, and wouldn't you know it?   It looks fantastic on top of a five dollar chair with a leather seat that I snagged at a yard sale on Friday.