I spotted this Easter "Welcome" sign for $7.99 at Michaels and thought--rather stupidly, it turns out--that it would be fairly easy to mass-produce facsimiles to give as gifts. Materials needed: unpainted wood letters, including an egg-shaped "letter" as a substitute for the O in "WELCOME"; paint in four country-ish pastel colors; paint brushes; a drill to make holes and jewelry wire to string the letters together; twine to affix to the top letter so that the sign can be hung; ric rac ribbons in a few different patterns; wood buttons; glue gun; and sandpaper (to give the letters a distressed look after painting).I decided to make four signs. Tonight I found most of the supplies at the store, but I struck out on the wood letters. No L to be found, and the C and M were available only in the wrong size or font. But at that point, I wasn't too discouraged. I could find the letters online. The discouragement began to set in at the check-out counter. The paints, brushes, twine, and jewelry wire came to $86 and some change. Thankfully, the Wrangler already has a drill, glue gun, and some sandpaper.
At home I searched for the letters online. The good news is that I found exactly what I wanted--even the egg-shaped O. The bad news is that the grand total for four sets came to $98 plus shipping. The devastating news is that I won't receive the letters for 15 business days. I consider this devastating news because the odds are good that I'll have deserted this project within 15 business days.
But I haven't lost interest yet, so I'll press on to the fabric store tomorrow in search of the wood buttons and ric rac ribbons. I can't guess what I'll end up paying there, but right now these handmade knock-offs of the $7.99 Michaels masterpiece will probably cost about $55 each and look like a third-grader made them...assuming I even make them. Fifteen business days for delivery? What year is it--1860? Are the letters coming by Pony Express?
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