Garden sign

After my post last week on transferring a photo onto wood, I was inspired to try more ideas.  This is what I ended up with.

I think she's pretty cute, and here is how I made her. You will need:

An image to transfer

Scrap of wood

Acrylic gel medium

Craft paint and stain (optional)

The first thing I needed to do was decide what I wanted to transfer onto the wood.  I have some grandiose ideas in my head, but I thought I should start out with something simple. ;)  I wanted to make a garden sign, so I decided I would just print "Garden".  How original.  Anyhow...I knew that I needed to print the image in reverse, and I thought there would just be a "mirror image" button or something.  There wasn't.  I started Googling how to print a reverse image and got a wide variety of answers.  Some said it couldn't be done from my computer.  Some said just click the button (which I do not have "the button").  Most said to purchase a reverse font.  None of those suggestions were working for me.  So, I called my resident tech guy and he walked me through a few simple steps (it looks like a lot of steps, but it took about one minute!) and I was able to print my image in reverse.

How to flip text on a mac
        1    Open your text editor of choice.(Word, Text Edit, Pages….)
        2    Pick the font and size of text you want (I chose "cracked" at about 200pt)
        3    Type your message
        4    Save/Print the document as a PDF
        5    Open the PDF in Preview
        6    Choose File-->Save As(Export) and select JPEG as the file format
        7    Close Preview
        8    Right Click the JPEG you saved
        9    Select Open With-->Preview
        10   Select Tool-->Flip Horizontal
        11    Print the JPEG on your laser printer

There is my reverse image.  When I hold it up to the light, you can read it! (Simple and obvious, I know, but I am easily amused!!!)

I learned from before that the white border around the image will transfer with the image.  I wanted a softer, more natural look for the sign, so I tore the image from the page as opposed to using scissors and ending up with rigid lines for the border.

I carefully applied my medium.  Remember Goldilocks...

And placed my image, smoothing out as many bubbles as possible.

Then I let it dry over night.

The next morning, I wet the paper with a rag and rubbed off the excess with my fingers. Once it was dry, I was ready to add some color.

First, I brushed on a bit of red, then immediately took a damp cloth and rubbed it in and off.

Once that was dry, I brushed a bit of the teal color on, and just blotted it with the rag.

Once THAT was dry, I sanded the whole thing, and then applied some stain over the whole project.  I had some small chainlink on hand, so I cut a section of the chain and simply screwed it to the back of the board.

Then she was ready for the garden!

It's not the greatest thing I have ever created, but I am learning something new!  And, this project cost me $0.  That is, ZERO DOLLARS.  Nothing.  I love to create new things.  I get positively giddy when I am able to create said things without spending any money! And, don't forget about my "grandiose" ideas.  These projects are practice for something bigger! ;)

Enjoy the Son today, my friends!