Avast the Poop Deck! A Distressing Matter

Not really. But sort of.

 

This post is to show off a couple of projects I completed recently. These pieces are going to go in my kiddos' bathroom, which has a colorful nautical theme.

 

Here are the completed pieces:

 

 

Colorful and humorous. Just my style.

 

Okay so here is what my "poop deck" sign looked like originally:

 

 

Yeah. I know. Big difference. I got this plaque at my local thrift shop for probably less than a $1.

 

 

First step was to sand. I used a palm sander and it took off all the paint and finish. The perfect black canvas.

 

 

I wanted a distressed beachy looking sign, so I started with a base coat of white paint. Just one coat; you want the wood underneath to show when we distress it.

 

 

Next we gotta get some lettering on there. I was a little short on stencils and die cut machines, so I had to make my own stencil. I started with typing up my lettering the right size and font I wanted. I made it an outline so it would use less ink. Then using a penknife, I cut out the inner part of the lettering. As you can see, I forgot to leave a tether piece on my "P" and "O" originally, so make note of this when cutting out your own stencil.

 

 

With a little rigging, I have a completed stencil.

 

 

I cut it down and taped it to my sign. Time to paint! I used a foam brush and blotted the paint on.

 

 

Argh maties! The big moment arrives...

 

 

It worked!

 

 

I decided it needed a little something else so I added this anchor using the same method as the lettering.

 

 

After the paint dried, I used a paint pen to outline everything.

 

 

Now time to distress!

I took some fine grain sand paper and lightly sanded the surface. This allows the wood grain to show through and make the paint look older. I might even make it look older. That's the nice thing, you can make it look as old as you want.

 

 

I added this rope to the back so we could hang it on the wall. Actually, Nick did it for me. A few staples in the rope and it's good to go.

 

 

I also added these studs. They are actually upholstery tacks that Nick broke the points off of. Hot glue them on and we're all set!

 

 

Now for the clock...

 

 

I didn't do much to this guy. This is how I bought him for $7. He looks great and fits in with the theme, but he just needed something.

 

 

So I painted the anchor orange to match the sign.

 

These were a couple of fun crafty projects that I really enjoyed working on. I'm looking forward to seeing them in our house!

 

On another note, our house is getting very, very close to being finished. We are planning on moving into it in a couple of weeks. So it might be a while before I have a chance to give a blog update. Things are already quite busy between getting the house ready to move into and, randomly enough, the garden. Big things are coming up, and I can't wait to see and show everyone our new place!

 

 



Short Travels: Crystal Beach and Beaver's Bend

We had the pleasure to do a little traveling here lately. Nothing real fancy, but there were some fun times and photo worthy moments.

 

First we went camping at Crystal Beach, down near Galveston. We stayed in our pop-up camper in a park, so you could say we had it a little easy.

 



 

Waking up in the pop-up. The kids love camping. Here they are looking out to a pond at the RV park we stayed in.

 

 

Good morning!

 

 

We got to see some family as well as friends while we were there.

 

 

Sabrina was totally into it. Last time we were at the beach in October she didn't seem to care for it so much. Amazing how they grow.

 

 

Ryder's always loved the beach. His excitement was apparent.

 

 

Beach toys!

 

 

Daddy and daughter.

 

 

Pushin' trucks. That's some quality time.

 

 

Here Ryder and Uriah are removing the water from the fire pit. The kids had so much fun with their friends! We all had a good time together.

 

 

Sabrina hangin' with Faith. Those girls sure liked them some apples.

 

 

It's a kid pirate ship!

 

 

Sabrina's face is about how I felt most the weekend. I'm not a big camper and the weather was a little disagreeable at times.

 

 

The beach sure is beautiful. It was a fun weekend, definitely memorable.

 

 

Yesterday, May 4, was our 7 year anniversary. To celebrate, Nick and I went on a long weekend trip up to Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It's the same place we went for our honeymoon, and we've always dreamed about going back.

 

The first day we just went driving around taking in all the gorgeous scenery. We drove up to a place where Nick and his family used to camp out years ago. We were actually at a campout together one year there but didn't really know each other at the time. They are no longer in business, but it was cool to take a walk down memory lane.

 

 

Beautiful hills and rivers.

 

 

Just awesome.

 

 

There were yellow flowers blooming in all the pastures. There was beauty everywhere we went.

 

 

We went driving down a random back road and found this cool steel bridge.

 

 

It's neat to find something unexpected. We spent so much time on this bridge trying to get this picture.

 

 

Nick was going to run off with the sign, but I talked him out of it. Just kidding, he was fixing it.

 

 

Another random stop. Nick said he and his cousins used to float in the water under this road when they were kids. Looks a little intimidating right now because the water was so high.

 

 

Standing above the falls that are further up the river from the road.

 

 

The re-regulation dam. It's just as cool as a regular waterfall.

 

 

Of course, Nick had to climb up on top.

 

 

We went walking on a little nature trail near a creek in the state park.

 

 

Nick caught a crawdad. Or few.

 

 

7 wonderful years.

 

 

We went to watch the sunset at this boat ramp. We noticed the surrounding campsites were underwater. See the grills sticking up?

 

 

The next day we went canoeing. The water was high, but the stretch of river we floated was pretty chill. It was definitely a relaxing trip.

 

 

River view.

 

 

We finished a little early (ahem, hour and a half to be exact). Needless to say we had to kill some time. Nick got him a turtle.

 

 

Big foot!

I couldn't resist.

 

 

The rest of the trip was pretty much a chillfest. We ate at some cool restaurants, including this local coffee shop where Nick here is looking very thoughtful.

 

 

The cabin we stayed in was perfect. Clean and well equipped, we enjoyed our time there.

 

Our trips were small, but full of experiences. We like to travel and hope to do some more in the near future.