Create or find the look you’re after. This will determine the type and size of board you need for creating the sign. If you want to create an authentic aged look, start with recycled or aged wood. Even better if it has old paint still on it. If starting with fresh unpainted wood, paint the background color first. At this stage, you may also want to add a little molding or trim around the perimeter of the sign to dress it up a little. Once the background color is applied, then start with the lettering and or images for your sign. If you’re copying something you’ve found in a magazine or online, you might be able to use a simple table projector to superimpose the image onto your sign. Then trace the design with a pencil onto your sign and paint as desired. If you’re painting freehand, be careful to not choose a design too intricate as you’re edges will not be terribly crisp. Small designs can be copied using a Sharpie or other marker, which allow for greater control. Many older signs were hand painted which adds to the rustic charm and with practice you may be able to achieve this look yourself. My ‘laundry’ sign was done by projecting an image I found online (I printed it up first), tracing it in pencil and then using a blue sharpie to color it in. My ‘cigar’ sign was also projected onto the wooden sign I made first, but in this case I just carefully painted the lettering using a small artists brush. If you choose a very detailed design and want it too look very professional, you may opt to have a mask made at a professional sign/banner store. Take your image and sign measurements to the store and they will use their computer to cut out the image in a sticky vinyl sheet, which you lay over top of your sign. When you peel off the top layer of the vinyl, the mask acts like a stencil where you simply paint over the relief of your lettering. When the cut out areas have been fully covered in the color of your choice, you just peel off the mask and your painted lettering will remain on your sign, looking very precise. I used this process with the my larger signs (Southwell & Company, and Oakville Yacht Club). Once all the lettering and design work has been painted on, you may want to distress the piece afterward to make it look really old. You could literally add dents and small cuts to the wood using a variety of tools – one of the tricks of the trade is to tie a large number of metal keys on a wire ring and attach the ring to a wooden handle and then hit the wood with the keys. The keys will create small random gouges and depressions along the woods surface without doing too much damage. Another way to age the piece is to sand off areas of the sign to give the impression of the colors fading over time. This takes a little skill but if you look at real vintage signs, you’ll get an idea how best to sand your piece. After sanding, I often add stain or glaze to the piece to add another layer of age. If you’ve sanded any edges down to raw wood, then you’ll want to age those areas so they don’t look like new wood. Light brown stain, which you quickly wipe off or a glaze tinted with umber can also create a great aged look. Apply sparingly over the whole piece and add layers as needed. Remember to never apply polyurethane (oil based) finish coats over your painted projects. Polyurethane eats away at paint and will destroy your finish. If you feel you must apply a protective finish over your finished project, you must use a polyacrylic (water based) finish. Keep in mind, any shiny finish coat will detract from a vintage look where truly old wooden signs have a matte, very worn feeling from many years of exposure to the elements.
Maddie, a reporter for a Norfolk newspaper, embarks on a Tiger Cruise during Christmastime where she meets a handsome naval officer and stumbles upon a mystery in the ship's archive room.
Cheryl Jenkins (Mowry-Housley) is an astrophysicist who works for the National Science Foundation reviewing grant applications for projects, although she’d prefer to be working on a project of her own. Cheryl heads home to spend the holidays with her family and first on the agenda is a visit to the annual Christmas carnival with her sister Trish (Zarrin Darnell-Martin, “Burden of Truth”). While there, Cheryl sees a carousel in the distance and ventures over to take a ride. But when the revolutions wind down and she returns to the carnival to find her sister, Cheryl discovers that — somehow — it’s five years earlier. Dissatisfied with where she is in life, Cheryl sees this as a chance to change her path by making different choices. As Cheryl navigates her way through her visit back in time, she’s able to connect with her beloved science teacher Ms. Nelson (Ralph), who was an inspiration to her both in and out of the classroom and had passed away several years previously. The time Cheryl spends with Ms. Nelson as well as with her “frenemy” George (Xavier) helps her find a new appreciation for what she’s doing in life and starts to see George in a new light. But when the carousel returns Cheryl to present-day Christmas with lessons learned, will the love she found be waiting for her? Stars Tamera Mowry-Housley, Michael Xavier and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
I think of this as a "back-pocket recipe," one I can pull out when I need something quick and wonderful, something I can make on the spur of the moment without trekking to the market. The cake is primarily apples (or pears or mangoes) and the batter, which resembles one you'd use for crepes, has more flavor than you'd imagine the short list of ingredients could deliver and it turns thick and custard-like in the oven. Through some magic of chemistry, the apples, which go into the pan in a mishmash, seem to line themselves up and they come out baked through but retaining just enough structure to give you something to bite into. That it can be served minutes out of the oven makes this the perfect last-minute sweet.
