Gosh, folks! It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but we’ve been super busy with the garden. We’ve been taking tomatoes out by the bucketfuls, and everything else is producing equally well. I’ve been cooking, canning, and freezing as much as I can, and we’ve also been sharing with friends and family. Leo and I made this wooden garden sign about a month ago, but I’m just getting around to sharing it with you.
This all came about when Leo and I spotted this old wooden easel at the auction that we always attend. When we saw it, we both thought it would look great in our garden with a sign on it. So it sat in the garden for several months until one day, we received an email from the folks at Dremel asking if we’d like to create a project for them. And we said, “Why, yes, we already have a project in mind!” So they sent us the tools and bits necessary to make our sign.
The first thing we did was to purchase a 2’x3′ one inch thick birch board. Then we sketched a large sunflower and printed out the words that we wanted on our sign and traced both onto the board using carbon paper.
Leo started by using the Dremel 3000 variable speed tool along with a 192 carving bit to rout out the letters.
Then he used a 511e sanding disk to smooth the edges.
To carve out the sunflower, stems, and leaves, he used an even different bit-a 193.
Then he turned it over to me and I brushed some gel stain by General Finishes onto the board. The stain really made the carved out letters and design pop and was very easy to apply.
After the stain had dried and was lightly sanded, I painted the sunflower and leaves using acrylic craft paints.
The next day I finished it off by spraying the sign with a polyurethane sealer.
And finally the sign was placed on the easel.
Here’s Leo clowning off just a bit after he put the sign on the easel, but overall, we’re pleased with how it turned out. You have to keep in mind that we had never used a Dremel tool before we made this.
Art for the garden!
The large leaves surrounding the easel are gourd leaves. They are volunteers that came up in our compost bin and we just let them grow because they help to obscure the bin.
I planted some rudbeckia, sweet potato vine, and lantana in a pot to place beside the easel. Those plants should bloom and grow well into fall.
And we do have a few sunflowers growing in our garden. Is there anyone who doesn’t love sunflowers???
Within a week after placing the sign in the garden, the gourd vine has grown by several feet. 
And we have lots of pretty gourds growing on the fence.
That’s a overgrown pattypan squash that’s beside the flower pot.
We’d like to thank the Dremel company for sending us the tools to use to create our new garden sign and General Finishes for sending the gel stain along to us as well. We are already dreaming up future projects using the Dremel.
Sharing at:
Wow Us Wednesday@Savvy Southern Style
Mary says
July 21, 2014 at 6:08 amYour sign looks wonderful Jane, love your artistic rendition of the sunflower! The easel is a perfect and fun find for your garden too 🙂
Ann says
July 16, 2014 at 4:37 pmOh your garden just makes me sigh. It’s so wonderful. The sign is perfect too! I wish I was close enough so I could mooch what you don’t use!
Christine says
July 14, 2014 at 11:02 amI think I am going to go swipe hubbys dremel….love this!
Shelia @ House of Highlands says
July 14, 2014 at 12:16 amGreat job on the sign! I am so glad that your garden is doing well! We are trying a few plants ourselves – tomatoes, green peppers and okra. My husband says we are going to be swimming in tomatoes!
Shelia
http://www.houseofhighlands.com
Pat @ LifeAtLydiasHouse says
July 13, 2014 at 10:55 pmThat sign turned out great!! Your garden looks wonderful but watch out for that gourd vine as it can take over like kudzu!! I missed seeing you at the Haven conference!
Kim Smith says
July 12, 2014 at 12:23 pmThat sign is awesome. And I think I might be able to do it. Thanks for the instructions.
MariaElena says
July 12, 2014 at 8:10 amBeautiful sign! What a beautiful idea. Love it! Enjoy your weekend. Maria
Mary Ann says
July 11, 2014 at 11:16 amI think it’s lovely, and so is the garden!
Heather @ new house new home says
July 11, 2014 at 10:59 amWow! If I tried this, I would have scraped all the skin off my hands with the dremel shooting all over the place. Great job!
Jean Windham says
July 11, 2014 at 9:58 amI love the new sign for the garden and yes I would like to purchase one to make yard art too since we will be building soon. You two have sold me on the Dremel tool also. The addition to the garden is just perfect.
SheilaG @ Plum Doodles says
July 11, 2014 at 9:06 amYour garden sign is very welcoming. 🙂 Y’all did a great job on it, and I love the vines growing around it.
Dolly Sarrio says
July 11, 2014 at 8:32 amYou two have sold me on the Dremel! Good work I love the sign!
JoAnne says
July 11, 2014 at 7:39 amYour sign is so cute, Jane. Great job! We have a small garden for the first time this year. Everything is growing but nothing big enough yet to eat. I can’t wait for the tomatoes!
Dawn says
July 10, 2014 at 9:09 pmYou are turning in to quit the artist. I love sunflowers and your sign is just perfect. We have a dremel too and love all it can do. You and Leo look so cute in the garden. Pinning!!
Janelle says
July 10, 2014 at 8:26 pmThat turned out great! I always love how you both work together as a team! Now what else can you play with with your Dremel? I bet you have something up your sleeve!
Vickie says
July 10, 2014 at 7:36 pmLove this. I have a dremel and all of the accesories-sitting in the cabinet now for about 5 years. Maybe I will get it out now and make me a garden sign,
Jane Windham says
July 10, 2014 at 8:06 pmOh Vickie! You should definitely get out your Dremel! With your artistic abilities, you will create a true work of art!
martina says
July 10, 2014 at 7:29 pmJane that sign turned out fabulous!! You guys did an awesome job on it!!
Jane Windham says
July 10, 2014 at 8:05 pmThanks so much Martina! We had never used a Dremel so we had to practice routing out the design first!