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Pirate Tavern Sign

20K views 16 replies 15 participants last post by  Sharonr3106 
#1 ·
This is my first post here and I really wanted to “give back” after using a lot of the tutorials and general ideas from this site. This year I plan to have a pirate themed Halloween complete with a tavern façade. So I needed an old rustic sign to lure in all those rum guzzling bilge rats. After some time searching the net I was able to find a few tips here and there. Well I put them together and made my attempt. Here is my tutorial for an old tavern sign. Hope it helps ya land lubbers!!!

First I got myself a 2 inch piece of pink insulation foam from Home Depot. I traced out my measurements and cut the general shape out with a hot knife. I then grained the foam with a soldering iron to resemble wood. There are plenty of tutorials on the net for this so I won’t go into all that. I also painted the sign using the standard method. I fully painted the sign black followed by dry brushing numerous wood type colors
This was my end result.
Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plywood Tree



I then wanted to put some “iron” bands around the planks to simulate holding them together. I got some thin craft foam and spray painted them with Rustoleum’s Hammered Iron.
Green


They turned out great and I hot glued them to the sign.
Wood Hardwood Wood stain Plywood Design


I then needed some type of nails hammered through the bands. I picked a brass tack to create this look. It was easy to do and I liked the look of the brass.
Wood Hardwood Wood stain Chest Furniture


OK so I needed a name for the tavern. Being a dog lover I went with the name “Sea Dog Tavern”. I was able to download the font “Pieces of Eight” from a free font site that seemed to be perfect. I wasted some printer paper trying to get the right size but it worked out and I test fit the lettering before the next step.
Text Font Wood Signage Art



Now the fun part :)rolleyes: sarcasm), cutting out these letters. It was challenging but with the help of a hot knife it moved right along. Not sure if there is a better way to do this but it was all I could think of.
Font Electric blue Number


After cutting I laid out the letters once again to get a sense of spacing
Font Wood Wood stain Cake


I then spray painted the letters with a chrome paint and aged them with a black acrylic, cherry wood stain, and a green acrylic. I used a fairly wet brush and "jabbed" at the letters to create a pitted type of look. Then secured them onto the sign with hot glue.
Wood Font Hardwood Wood stain Metal


Next was the symbol for the Sea Dog Tavern. What else but a dog! I figured I'd stay with the metal look and found a great logo that fit . Again printing it out to judge size.
Wall Wood Art Design Room


I cut it out the same way as the letters and it was given the same ageing technique. Again secured with hot glue and it was finished. I was really pleased with the outcome. Id love to hear some opinions or maybe some short cuts to doing this easier. Thanks everyone and Happy Haunting :D

Text Font Cake Border collie
 
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#7 ·
Awesome sign. The raised letters are a nice touch adding to the dimension. I take the lazy approach by cutting out a paper stencil also using the Pieces of Eight font and then airbrushing with acrylic paint. Many signs of that era were simply painted. But I may have to raise my bar and try this on my next sign. Thanks for the tutor.
 
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#15 ·
So jealous, I have always wanted a Cricut but for how much I actually neeeed it I could not justify the price. Your sign turned out awesome as well.
 
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