Hey Ya! Have you ever had someone else’s hole in the wall (literally, a hole in the wall) inspire your own project? Well, it happened to me. My bestie back home, Davina, had an issue after taking down a light fixture. It left a hole in the house’s siding by the front door. Since new siding is a down-the-road project she needed something to cover up the hole. She already had house numbers on one side of the door and was wanting a welcome sign on the other side, but was hoping to have something more fun than “Welcome” to hang. She asked around for ideas. Some of the responses were pretty funny, like the creepy clown signs, but some were the best ideas ever! Those would be mine. Just kidding. I offered up the sign over Piglet’s house in Winnie the Pooh, “Trespassers W” and “Hey Ya” the song by Outkast. The only stipulation with using “Hey Ya” was that she had to sing the song when she opened the door. She found it funny, but didn’t go with it. She instead told me to make it. Fine then, I will.
I went on post to the thrift shop looking for something I could repaint. Buying a piece of wood and cutting it down is not an option for me right now and I have yet to find a craft store that sells pre-cut plaques to finish. While I was there I saw a friend and chatted up with her what I was working on. She’s the one that found the perfect sign for me. Thank you, Colleen!
Here it is. Pretty right?
It was originally a chalk board dinner menu from Hobby Lobby for $9.99. The next sticker on the back was from Goodwill for $2.50. I then bought it for $2. This board has been around.
After a good scrub up it was time to get to painting.
It took about six coats of white paint to cover. Had I known that the PX sells primer it would have been a lot faster. I was using regular old craft paint. The kids had been into it who knows when and left the cap open so it was all chunky. It just adds to the charm, right?
Ah, a nice clean, mildly chunky, slate.
I traced the shape onto paper. I had to tape two pieces together to make it big enough. Then I sketched out my design. I like folk art welcome signs with flowers, so that’s the direction I went in.
Once I had everything mapped out I got some carbon paper and traced the design onto the board. I could have just sketched right onto the board, but with erasing and redrawing it would have gotten messy.
Yay! Everything traced out perfectly.
The next step was the most fun. The painting! I had to check a lot of paint bottles to see which ones the kids didn’t leave open and ruin, but I found enough to do the job.
There are no intimidating paint techniques going on. I just layered one color over top the other ones until I liked how it looked, then added some polka dots here and there. It was very much like coloring.
Since this is going outside I needed to seal it from the weather. Just so you know outdoor gear water proofing spray is not the product to use. I don’t feel the need to tell you how I know, just trust me. My friend, Heather, took pity on me, walked me into the PX and showed me where the varnish is shelved. Thank you, Heather!
I picked up some red with white polka dot ribbon and hot glued it to the back to hang. I should really find some tacks to put in it also. I don’t want the afternoon sun heating up the glue causing the sign to come crashing down.
My front door. What can I say? It looks a bit like a prison door. Metal with a key pad surrounded by brick is not the most inviting. See what I mean?
But, add a fun and whimsical “Hey Ya!” sign and you get…
Oh, my, goodness! It totally transforms the entire space! It looks just like a cute cottage door from back in the old world!
Okay, so maybe it isn’t that much of a difference, but it definitely adds some personality to the door.
Come on over. I can’t guarantee anything, but I just might sing the song for you.
See ya!
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