Dated Thrift Shop Canvas/Wood Sign Up-cycle

It's been pretty slim pickins' at the thrift shops this month. Between extreme cold and snowstorms, I'm sure people are not bringing stuff in for donation or consignment.

I did pick up this canvas sign last week for $1.99. It was dusty and a bit yellowed, so I gave it a makeover.

(When you click on the bold Amazon, Old Sign Stencils or Dixie Belle Paint Company affiliate links you will be taken to the products I use for this project. If you order it does not change the price or service at all. As an Amazon Affiliate, Old Sign Stencils Affiliate or Dixie Belle Paint Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

I wiped the canvas and wood slats down with hot soapy Dawn dish soap water.

Thank goodness it didn't have a cigarette odor.

I put a plastic spoonful of Dixie Belle Paint in Hurricane Gray on a paper plate and added water until my paint was pretty thin. I stirred it with my chip brush.

When you are painting fabric it's best to have the fabric damp, and the paint thinned.

I painted both the wood and the thick canvas cloth (fringes and all) with the gray paint.

You can iron cloth painted surfaces or stencils if you use a piece of parchment paper over your fabric, and iron on the paper.

I decided I didn't like the all gray look, so I watered down Dixie Belle Chalk Finish Paint in CAVIAR, and I left the wood slats painted in Dixie Belle Chalk Finish Paint in Hurricane Gray.

I found a few stencil packages online at Joann Fabrics recently.

My "This Is Us" stencil is from a package of 14 paper stencils from Hampton Art Company.

I squirted a dollop of Ceramcoat Acrylic Paint in Light Ivory, and pounced on my stencil.

Since the stencil was horizontal and my canvas was vertical, I had to space the words vertically. This can be a little tricky.

If you get the stencils crooked, you can always repaint and re-stencil.

Cheap stencils have some drawbacks.

Sometimes they are paper. These were paper, but didn't need to be punched/pressed out like the Folkart stencil value packs.

They don't last as long, and they have stencil bridges in weird or too obvious spaces.

You can use a fine liner brush and connect the letters, but I don't do it that way. I tape around the stencil bridges with blue painter's tape and stencil the bridge with a fine stencil brush.

I think this method looks the best.

My canvas has been painted, and re-painted, and stenciled. All stencil bridges were fixed.

I then used 100 grit sandpaper to add a bit of aging to the my fresh paint job and stenciling.

After sanding, I waxed the whole piece with Dixie Belle Best Dang Wax in Clear. I used a wax brush, and applied a very light coat.

When the water based wax was dry, I wiped it down with a paper towel. I didn't want lint or fibers on my canvas.