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Our signs we made for our house and garden
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Posted by Rainsend z5 MA (My Page) on Wed, Feb 9, 05 at 16:21
| I thought I would share these signs we made over the years we have lived at our home (16 yrs now). They are painted with oil based paints (sold in small cans at the hardware stores) on scrap pieces of pine. We cut the wood with a jig saw. My husband did use the router to finish the edges on some of them.
the format of the post doesnt make it easy for me to include the photos. I will have to do this in the next post. Im still a novice at this. Sorry. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| It seems odd to me the the message posting formats are different for different forums. I wonder why. |
Here is a link that might be useful: the signs....
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| You are very talented. I loved them all, especially the chickens. The chickens with the morning glory sure brightens up the winter weather. Edna |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| Those are the cutest!! I love the Rose Cottage one. We have a lamppost very similar to yours in front of our house and I've been thinking of hanging a sign up there. Now I have just the idea! |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| WOW! I am really impressed . What really great signs you have painted . |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| I posted these in return for all the great ideas that I have found on garden web. I finally figured out (sort of) to do this and thought I would share. I really love looking through all the pictures that peaple share here. |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| I LOVE your Rose Cottage sign! It would be perfect to put on the arbor at my garden entrance. You are very creative! |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| Thank you for the encouraging comments. They are not that hard to do. First I prime the wood and draw the picture or writing in pencil. Then fill in as necessary. Its a little like coloring but with a brush. If I make a mistake I just wait for it to dry and go back and fix it. I do have some proctice using the brush and this helps. The designs for the signs are my own but I do copy things I see as well. My favorite is chicken/rooster weathervanes. I have copied pages out of books and pictures online. Then I use the outline/silhouette to cut out the piece in wood with a scroll saw. Then I prime and paint in a similar fashion to the signs. I really like the old and unique forms that people have come up with for roosters and horses. I put a copper pipe in the ground in the garden and mount the wood on it. They start to weather after a few years so they dont last forever. Once they get to that state I bring them inside. Funny people think they are antiques then. |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| I love your signs! I think you could have a cottage industry here! Have you thought of selling these? I bet there is a market. Just a thought.....if you coated them with a very good poly varnish they would probably last longer. You could do this after they weather a bit if you want that look. |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| Rainsend, those are beautiful! I've been looking to make a sign for our house. I want to call it "The Burrow", from the Weasley's house in Harry Potter. My husband thinks I'm crazy wanting to name our smallish cape cod house, as if it was a huge estate or farm! |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| I know it seems a bit odd to name a house. But then we plan on staying here. And we use the name on the labels we make for our honey and maple syrup. I cant remember why we wanted to name our house it seems so long ago now. But we did spend some time picking out the name. |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| Your signs are adorable! And I love the colors. How do you mount them on the posts? Suzi |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| The signs have eye hooks on top. We did the same when mounting on the building. The rose cottage sign mounted on the door has an key hole routed out on the backside. Then I can slip it onto a screw on the door. The metal post with metal arrow was there when we moved into the house. I think someone who lived here had a small business. Some of the whirligig type things I just drill a hole (at what I think is a good balance point). I use copper pipes stuck in the ground. Then I get a piece of wooden dowel that will fit inside the pipe. Sometimes I have to whittle it a bit to get it to fit. I drill a hole in the top of the dowel to fit a small peice of metal (sometimes a piece of coat hanger or metal dowel from the hardware store). The whirligig thing or whatever just slips on top of this assembly. I can take them in for winter also. I usually paint the dowel as well to protect it from the weather. |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| Wow! I went back five times to look again. Your signs are so welcoming. You have a real talent. As soon as I saw them I realized my house needs signs too. I especially love the chickens and the duck. I cant remember where but someplace on Gardenweb a poster said she protected her outdoor items with a coat of marine spar varnish. That is the varnish used on boats. I hear it smells bad so you have to use it outdoors. If I get some stuff painted I will try that varnish. THanks again for the inspiration |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| I have used spar varnish before. The older sign (duck on one side and chicken on other) was originally framed by wood protected by spar varnish. The varnish never lasted more than a year. We also have a carved piece of cedar that we protect with spar varnish. Every year it has to be touched up even though we take it in during the winter months. The oil based paints I use actually last a lot longer. There really isnt much that can stand up to mother nature long term. But the painted signs have held up for 5 years fully exposed to the weather. You just have to watch if any peeling starts. The water gets under and undermines the paint. You can touch it up. The larger farm sign was outside against the house (so somewhat protected from the rain) for all seasons for at least 10 years. The paint has faded a bit but really has held up well. |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| Wonderful signs, my DB had a sign made for SIL, she has horses. Anyway, her name is Melody and he couldn't make a sign that said "Melody Farms" cos there is a business here in Michigan with that same name. So he transposed her name and now it's "Ydolem Farms" !! |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| Beautiful job!!! You both should be selling these on Ebay hon... |
RE: Our signs we made for our house and garden
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| Do you really think so? Thank you. I would love to do something creative like this and make a little money but I wonder how difficult it is to do. Maybe in a few years when I get more free time when the little one is in school. |
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