Fancy Handpainted Signs

2 Fancy hand-painted signs you can easily DIY!

PSA: You can turn anything into a sign.

Whether you hand-paint the letters or choose to create lettering that you make on your Cricut machine, know that absolutely anything can be used to relay your message!

I LOVE signage; especially those that are hand-painted.

Rarely do I pass up an opportunity to read hand-painted wording! If someone took the time to write it, then it must be interesting (even if it really isn't)! LOL! It still gets my attention.

Ok, so now that I have made it clear how important signs are, let me show you how easy it is to use the most random objects as your surface!

Watch the DIYs on YouTube:

Check out this week's video here.

Sign 1: Painting over a Mirror

I needed a small sign for my recent booth space adventure!

Currently, I have a large neon sign with my business name, but I needed a small personal sign that directed shoppers to my social media accounts and website. I wanted it to be personal (painted by hand), gold framed, and in a specific shape. Not too difficult right?

As is usually the case, I found exactly what I was looking for at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.

It was a MIRROR!

Mirror found at Hobby Lobby that was used to make one of the Fancy Handpainted Signs

Now, I could have removed the mirror from the frame, cut a board to fit the frame, and paint directly on the board.

But that sounds pretty labor-intensive. Not to mention the mirror was glued to the frame.

So I just painted directly on the mirror! And to answer your question: YES, you can paint, using Dixie Belle Paint, right onto the mirror surface, in any color!

I chose C aviar to give it a chalkboard vibe and proceeded to paint on two coats and set it aside to dry.

Using Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint in Caviar black for Fancy Handpainted Sign for Tracey's Fancy's Booth

Using Best Dang Brush to paint on Caviar black CMP from Dixie Belle onto Fancy Handpainted Sign mirror

Using a smaller artist brush to paint in the fine details for the Fancy Handpainted Signs

I then used a Sharpie broad tip marker in white to write my message. I did this freehand in a basic print font. Matt (my hubs) watched and said he would have had to do this in chalk first which is something I often do.

Completed Tracey's Fancy new booth sign made with upcycled mirror

So, keep in mind, you can use a piece of chalk first, then draw with your Sharpie marker once you like your placement and spacing.

The marker dries quickly, and you can erase any chalk lines with a baby wipe. Since the marker is permanent, it will not erase!

So BOOM! It's the perfect size for the space I needed, and I spent less than $20 on it!

Final look at Tracey's Fancy's booth where one of the Fancy Handpainted Signs is featured

Isn't it perfect in my booth?

Sign 2: Painting on a Thrifted Fabric Hanging from a Curtain Rod

My daughter asked me to paint a "backdrop" sign for my granddaughter's "ladybug-themed" birthday.

I get asked to paint backdrops A LOT, and I usually paint on either drop cloths that will hang, mural paper, or canvas. I have even painted on wood planks.

HOWEVER, interestingly enough, (while thrifting), I stumbled upon this giant piece of painted fabric hanging from a curtain rod?!?!

Thrifted sign Tracey found to repurpose into a Fancy Handpainted Sign

What?????

It stopped me in my tracks because SOMEONE was thinking outside the box! I loved this idea (but not the design). So, I grabbed that sucker and claimed it as mine!

P.S. I painted this the morning of the party in less than an hour!!!

I simply removed the fabric part from the rod/clips, and got busy with my paint! A double base coat of H onky Tonk Red went on painlessly with my S carlet Brush!

Showing off the Scarlet brush and Honky Tonk Red CMP used on a Fancy Handpainted Sign

Using brush to apply red chalk mineral paint to create ladybug design for Fancy Handpainted Sign

Carefully painting on red paint for Fancy Handpainted Sign made of upcycled banner

Pro tip: I used a heat gun each step of the way to speed up the process.

Tracey using a heat gun to quickly dry paint for Fancy Handpainted Signs

Then I painted the small little sections between the scallops with Caviar as well and embellished them with a small flower in y ellow (Daisy) and white.

Painting black paint on banner scallop for ladybug design

Using white paint to create a flower pattern on Fancy Handpainted Sign ladybug birthday sign

Finished daisy flower on ladybug birthday banner

For the polka dots: I traced jumbo-size polka dots using a bowl as my pattern, then painted each dot with Caviar black.

Tracing a bowl to make circle patterns for ladybug dots on Fancy Handpainted Sign

Painting with Caviar to create ladybug spots for birthday banner

Finished polka dot pattern for ladybug birthday banner

The tassels that were hanging were not the right red. So I removed them and replaced them with four red pom-poms (that I could have made but was in a rush), instead opting to use pre-made ones that I removed from two ladybug headbands that I found at Party City! BOOM!

Old and worn tassels on banner that was upcycled to Fancy Handpainted Signs

Pom pom on headband to be attached to Fancy Handpainted Signs

Using cutters to remove pom pom from child's headband

Once completely dry (using a heat gun to speed the process again), I used a piece of chalk to write the message on the sign! I had to redo my spacing a few times, so don't be hard on yourself if you need to do this. It's so easy to just baby-wipe away the chalk and try again!

Once I had it the way I wanted it (and also running out of time), I used the S harpie Jumbo marker in white to trace directly over the chalk lines!