Welcome sign

A vintage print can make a great welcome sign for your home entrance way by simply adding some hand painted letters!

Resene upcycling for good with Sarah Herring - Project 70

You will need

• Retro artwork in frame
• Printed letters that spell ‘WELCOME’ (or whichever message you would like to say)
• Scissors
• Clear drying craft glue
• Baking paper
• Resene testpot brushes
• Resene testpots in your choice of colours – Sarah used Resene Goldmine metallic and Resene Retro
• Resene Aquaclear Natural

Top tip:  Be extra careful with old art prints like this as even the highest quality masking tape can lift the fragile colour off the picture. The project has been created so that masking tape was not required to avoid the risk of this happening.

How to make a welcome sign

Step one: Give the whole item a good clean and make any repairs needed to the frame.

Step two:  Repaint the whole frame in two coats of Resene Goldmine metallic using a testpot brush. This is a great way to refresh the original gold frame while keeping the character of the piece.

Step three:  While the frame is drying, print out your chosen letters (Sarah used ‘WELCOME’) and then cut them out. You could print onto paper or a fine card, whichever is easiest for you to work with. Work out your preferred letter placement and jot down the measurements.

Step four:  Lay the letters down on some baking paper for painting so they won’t stick. Apply two coats of your chosen colour to each letter – Sarah used Resene Retro.

Step five:  Using a clear drying craft glue, fix the letters carefully into place onto the artwork. You can wipe away excess glue with a wet wipe.

Step six:  To secure the letters in place so they won’t lift off, apply three coats of Resene Aquaclear Natural. This product dries totally matte so it doesn’t change the finish on the artwork at all. Or you could use Resene Aquaclear in a higher gloss level if you prefer.