Thursday, February 17, 2011

**Guest Post by Amanda Carver Designs**

So, friends...I want to introduce you all to Amanda from Amanda Carver Designs! CLICK HERE to view her blog! She has an awesome eye for thrifty DIY projects! I met Amanda through the church that my husband and I attend and I have fallen in love with her blog (and her style!). SO! I asked Amanda to come up with a little sumthin' sumthin' to share with you! Visit her blog and give her some love! (Also...she makes the ca-uuuuutest headbands and hairclips! I have seen them firsthand and highly recommend them!)


I love the look of old letters on buildings..I often drive by an old building and dream of climbing to the top of the building and just quickly "borrowing" a letter or two. I never do..which leaves me shopping for them at the normal places (if you live in Lynchburg like me, you are limited to TJ Maxx or Ross (basically). I know you can buy them on etsy (vintage letters I have seen cost up to $1oo a piece, not my gig.) So, I decided to try to personalize and age a normal "Ross" letter. This "C" cost $12 and is about 1.5 feet tall.

My first attempt was to chalkboard it (partially). However, to be honest, lately, I am boring myself with the amount of items I have chalkboarded. Anyhow, I had it like this for a while..sometimes with patterns, sometimes not.
I then decided I wanted it to be in the teal family, so, I gathered my randomly aquired "mess up" paints and started by mixing two that would get me close to the color. I did one coat of that color and let it dry. These are the ones I ended up using...
Then I went back after the first coat was dry with a lighter teal and did a dry brush technique. The goal here was to get an uneven covering.

After that ,and while it was still tacky, I took my scissors (an old pair) and scraped off all the edges as well as some other spots to get the worn look. Here is a close up
And the final product...
I love it..I totally feel like it could have come up an old Heating and Cooling Shop or something random. This was so easy and quick. Highly recommend it!!

22 comments:

  1. Fabulous! What a neat idea if you had a collection of all sizes and letters...

    Donna

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  2. Love letters and numbers. The color is great on yours.

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  3. I love it! Where did you get your letter. I am looking for a big 'G'...

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  4. I am working on a an alphabet wall in our house. This is a great idea for one of the letters.

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  5. I love the color! I also love numbers/letters and the color just like Tracy! Great Job!

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  6. Love it! And clever idea using scissors to scrape the edges.

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  7. Absolutely beautiful! It totally looks "vintage" and I think you achieved exactly the look you were going for. Thank you so much for linking this up to Inspiration Friday this week!
    Vanessa

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  8. Ohh Baby! This is such a fun idea. I will so have to visit Amanda's blog too. Thanks bunches for linking this up to my blog bash K.I.S.S., it's much appreciated. :)

    http://thetatteredtag.blogspot.com

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  9. I love it!! That color is fantastic. :-) I would love it if you'd link this up to my Marvelous Mess party. I will be choosing one project to be featured on my sidebar for a week!! Here is the link: http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/2011/02/marvelous-mess_20.html

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  10. I love the use of letters in a room and really love it when we can find them other than Michael’s, etc. They have so much character and you added to that character!

    Denise
    Extreme Personal Measures

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  11. Ohh I love the color you did with this! Very cute!

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  12. That looks great. I love the color. I'm your newest follower. I'm throwing my first link party today (Monday) it would be great if you would stop by and share your project.
    http://diyhshp.blogspot.com

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  13. Nice color and distressing! Love letters!

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  14. Lovely! What a great idea! I am visiting from Debbiedoos newbie party.

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  15. ohhhh this is the PERFECT color...love love love how it is graphic and yet still soothing. nice!

    www.northerncottage.blogspot.com

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  16. I love letters! I recently went to Anthropologie and fell in love with a few. You can check out my post it reminds me of you letter.
    dreaming-n-color.blogspot.com

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  17. Very nice. I've been eyeing all the letters but haven't made a large one since I did my daughters name a couple years ago. I think I need to grab another letter and make one just for me.

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  18. Does your site have a contact page? I'm having a tough time locating it but, I'd like to send you an email. I've got some creative ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it expand over time.
    entrance door handles

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