Hello fellow bakers and crafters! It has been a while since we did a craft and today’s craft was made about a year ago. I am seeing my bakery sign now on TV and in catalogs like “Shades of Light” that I recently got in the mail, so I thought I would post how to make mine. The sign runs about $80 in the catalogs. I made mine for $3 out of pocket. Now, I happen to have many materials on hand. Without those materials, I would spend about $20.
But first my book review! I always highlight my categories in bold so that way you can skip or read through and find your spot on the post.
Book Review: 5 STARS
“Never give up. Never quit.”
SSG Travis Mills has written an autobiography about his time in Afghanistan and recuperation after his injuries. The story is heartfelt, written in a very conversational tone and powerful. In our society today, we like to complain on Facebook when the coffee doesn’t taste right, someone cuts us off in traffic or the temperature outside isn’t what we like. Here is a 25 year old man who was hit by an IED on his third tour of Afghanistan and ended up being one of only five surviving soldiers to be a quadruple amputee.
The book begins well… at his beginning. Travis was great at sports. He was so great in fact that he was looking at a professional football career. But, he didn’t keep his grades up and his high school GPA was not high enough to get into college. Instead, he joined the army! Travis describes in detail his three tours in Afghanistan with a very flat out, “here is what I see” attitude. His opinions come straight from the horse’s mouth and nothing is held back about the war, the people they were fighting and coming home to the USA.
If you have ever been in pain or know someone that has been in pain, this is a great insight into what it feels like and what is going through their mind. Travis walks us through the phantom pain, the recovery and immense work it took to physically walk again. Physical therapy was a 24/7 job and he put everything into it. The lesson he learned from his father to “Never quit. Never give up.” led Travis to recovery and shows us what sheer determination can achieve.
Finally, I want to go back to the beginning of the book. He is very up front and states that he doesn’t want pity or sorry. He doesn’t believe that he is better than any other soldier that went to war. It is a story about perseverance and believing that there is going to be an end to the challenge. It is a story that will remind you and inspire you to “Never give up. Never quit.”
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
DIY Bakery Sign
I have quite a few canvases I bought years and years ago at Bed Bath and Beyond. They don’t really go with the house anymore, so I decided to keep them and repurpose them somehow. If you do not have a paint canvas lying around, you may find a cheap one at Home Goods or any home decor store. Another alternative is to cut a piece of 1/4″ lauan plywood or have the hardware store cut it down for you. There are larger sheets of lauan available. Then, sand the edges. I would wood glue a small frame around the edges using molding. Then continue with the rest of the DIY.
Here is a photo of the canvases I had. They came in different shapes and sizes. The one I painted over looked like these, only a different shape. My hope is to have time to paint them all. It has been two years…. so we’ll see 🙂
Time: 1-2 hours Total time: 2 days (waited for paint to dry)
Materials:
Canvas measuring around 35.75 ” x 11.75 ” (or whatever fits your space!)
24″x12″ of black vinyl
white spray paint – I used Flat White
Need also:
contact paper
scraper
Silhouette or other die-cut machine to cut out the letters
- Make sure your canvas is clean and free of dust and dirt. Take it outside and evenly spray paint the front and edges. Use even strokes. It may take two coats to do this and it look nice. Allow to dry. I let it sit 24 hours just in case. I spray painted on our tarp out in the backyard.
- Cut out your letters with black vinyl. I used Cocogoose font and then stretched the letters until they were all the same size and slightly stretched especially horizontally. My letters were about 4″x5″.
- Once cut and ready to go, I took my canvas and calculated the center horizontally and vertically. If I erred – it was to put more space on the bottom and less empty space on top. From the lines, I was able to place my letters and center them. (Pencil erases nicely!)
- Use a weeding tool to weed out the black vinyl you don’t want. Use contact paper to scrape your letter off of the vinyl. Then scrape the contact paper with letter attached onto the sign.
- Ta dah!!
I have read some people cannot put vinyl on canvas. I didn’t have any trouble with it… but if you are having trouble with transferring the vinyl there is a solution. If you “paint” elmer’s glue or watered down glue on the painted canvas first, then let it dry, you will have a more non-porous surface to adhere the vinyl on.
