I've been a craftin' like crazy this weekend. The by far easiest to make was a sign for the reception. It was an idea that was kicking around in my head and after a lot of computer work, some spray painting, and some glue I came up with this:
I swear the covered up area is my future last name, it's just so rare
that I am a bit scared to share it with the world. That and I think the CIA is on to me.
I swear the covered up area is my future last name, it's just so rarethat I am a bit scared to share it with the world. That and I think the CIA is on to me.
So this all started after I got it in my head that wouldn't it be cool to have a personalized halloween sign. Thus began a long google search that lead to, well, very little. I did find one website that had quite a few but were a bit pricey. After seeing this one, the idea of having a graveyard or cemetery with our name on it formed into my brain.
The plan all began with a hunt for a cool picture of both a graveyard and then a sign I could alter. I used my mad photoshopping skillz (forgive me, but I just had to type that) to remove the original name on the gate and then added the 'Z' one and cleared off the original background so the one of the graveyard would show up.
After printing the image off on cardstock I aged it in some tea for about 10-20 minutes and dried it off between two towels and with a cutting board on top to keep it from wrinkling. Before it had completely dried I also took my grill lighter and a candle to the edges to burn them up but not enough to light the whole thing on fire.
For the base I got a nice piece of wood and a spray can of varnish in charcoal. I'm sure you can about picture what came next. (But for those I have spray painted with before, I did put down paper this time) After giving it a few coats and letting that dry I took my handy dandy lighter to that and burned off some of the paint around the edges to give it an aged look as well.
To finish it off, all I did was glue it together and then I sprayed a gloss on it all to somewhat waterproof the paper. I still need some bailing twine so we can hang it (I got an insider for that) but otherwise I think it looks super cool and it's something we can use for years to come for every Halloween.
If anyone else wants a graveyard as cool as this, I still have the photoshop template so you can just leave a comment with your last name and an e-mail I can send the completed image too. All the spray painting/lighting/dyeing is up to you.
The plan all began with a hunt for a cool picture of both a graveyard and then a sign I could alter. I used my mad photoshopping skillz (forgive me, but I just had to type that) to remove the original name on the gate and then added the 'Z' one and cleared off the original background so the one of the graveyard would show up.
After printing the image off on cardstock I aged it in some tea for about 10-20 minutes and dried it off between two towels and with a cutting board on top to keep it from wrinkling. Before it had completely dried I also took my grill lighter and a candle to the edges to burn them up but not enough to light the whole thing on fire.
For the base I got a nice piece of wood and a spray can of varnish in charcoal. I'm sure you can about picture what came next. (But for those I have spray painted with before, I did put down paper this time) After giving it a few coats and letting that dry I took my handy dandy lighter to that and burned off some of the paint around the edges to give it an aged look as well.
To finish it off, all I did was glue it together and then I sprayed a gloss on it all to somewhat waterproof the paper. I still need some bailing twine so we can hang it (I got an insider for that) but otherwise I think it looks super cool and it's something we can use for years to come for every Halloween.
If anyone else wants a graveyard as cool as this, I still have the photoshop template so you can just leave a comment with your last name and an e-mail I can send the completed image too. All the spray painting/lighting/dyeing is up to you.
3 comments:
That's so great! My FMIL was visiting FSIL and they took a walk through a nearby cemetery. Up on a hill, they suddenly noticed two headstones next to each other -- one with their last name, and one with mine! We got a picture of it, and a picture of us with it, the next time we went to visit. I think it's adorable and it should be the last picture in our photo guest book (you know, 'till death do us part and all that).
You DO have mad photoshopping skillz!
But mostly I like your instructions, e.g. "not enough to light the whole thing on fire"
Ha ha - yeah :)
Awesome. I love it!
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