Tables Set Up for Christmas Sign Painting

The Set Up for Christmas Sign Painting

I’ve been wanting to host a little Christmas Sign Painting party for a while. A friend of a friend (so to speak) runs a little outfit called West Coast Signs Co., which is run by a pair of friends who host wood painted sign parties and workshops.

If you are in the lower mainland of BC and want to host a sign painting party, do yourselves a favour and look these girls up! They did an excellent job, were so easy to work with and I hardly had to lift a finger on the day of the party. I hosted everyone at our complex rec centre (which you may recognize as the former Margaritaland from our Murder Mystery Party), which was great! We had a small group, there were seven of us, and honestly the pre-organization was the hardest part. But I don’t need to get into that just now.

The sign-painting itself was really straightforward and fun. Our host, Leanne, pre-stained the wood and prepared our stencils. We chose our designs ahead of time, which was really difficult! I settled on a tree made out of the words “Joy, Hope, Love, Peace, Christmas.” Something about the signs formed in the shape of a tree really spoke to me. I had a hard time choosing between my design and the one in the far left of the group photo, below. Spoiler alert: I’m really happy with my choice!

Friends Ready for Christmas Sign Painting

Ready to Paint! with Tina!

Our first task was to lay the stencil down onto the wood. Then we had to remove the film over top of the stencil, leaving the areas to be painted showing through.

I was surprised at how little paint was required once we got to the painting part. I did two coats of white on everything before adding colour to a couple of the words and the star at the top of my tree. I also added a third coat of white to the words that stayed white, just to make sure they popped.

If I had to choose the most tedious part of the process, it would be a tie between removing the film from the stencil, making sure the vinyl was placed properly, and the last step in removing the vinyl at the end. Man, that was stressful! Haha. I was afraid what I had painted would pull right off, but other than one small spot where the paint bled under the stencil and another spot where I missed getting the red all the way to the edge of a letter, it turned out perfectly!

Christmas Sign Painting - Stencil on Board

Stencils Ready

Christmas Sign Painting - Mid-Painting

Mid-Painting

Christmas Sign Painting - Busy at Work

Concentrating Hard

Christmas Sign Painting - Painting Close Up

Team Blue at Work

While we painted, it was a chance to catch up with friends and meet some new ones. I had opened the party up to the people in our townhouse complex and we were joined by three other ladies (team blue – they dressed to match and didn’t even realize it!). We had snacks and some laughs, and overall it was a really fun time. I encouraged everyone to bring their slippers (which was self-serving because it meant less cleanup for me at the end), team blue brought drinks and we were there for almost three hours, painting and having a great time.

Ready to see the finished product?

Christmas Sign Painting - Finished Product

Now, I’m not one to decorate for Christmas before December hits--no judgment for those that do, it’s just too much for me to have decorations up for over a month. Come December, I am so excited to hang my new sign up! I’ve always been a fan of the holidays, but since having kids it adds a whole new special layer to the celebrations. Maverick has started to say “Santa” and Archer is more excited than ever. It truly is a magical time. They were also excited for me when they saw my sign. It made me so proud and happy that I made the Christmas Sign Painting party work.

Now, to just remember to put out that Elf next Sunday …

Feeling Christmassy already,

Anya

Christmas Sign Painting Group with Finished Signs

Great job girls!

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