I have another free pattern for you to download so you can make the project. You can find the file here. In the download there are 3 files: a PDF for hand-cutting of the pieces, a PNG to use with your electronic cutting machine and a text file with handy hints and tips (and the sizing information) to use the PNG.
As with most of these projects I cut all the pieces from medium weight white card-stock, the kind used to make cards and such. This is way more economical than having to purchase a bunch of colors and in my experience the paint colors are a lot more stable than the paper colors. I rarely get noticeable fading with the painted projects.
You are free to use the pattern as many times as you wish and even to sell the finished project. But, please don’t give away or sell my patterns. I spend a lot of time creating them and the only compensation I get is from people watching the videos and checking out the blog post. I really want to keep offering these for free so please if someone else wants to make one send them to the video and blog so they can get their own copy of the pattern.
I do highly recommend on this pattern in particular that you mark the top side of each piece before you remove it from your cutting mat if you use an electronic cutting machine or before cutting if you are cutting by hand. These pieces look a lot alike but are not interchangeable.
Once everything is marked and cut (and removed from the cutting mat if needed) you are ready to glue. I like to use a thin even coat of a thick tacky glue. This is what works the best for me. You will need to glue the pieces into units each made up of the 3 identical pieces. Allow the glue to dry completely before moving to the next step.
Now we are going to paint the pieces. For this project I painted everything with a nice bright red at this step. Any bright red will do, use enough coats of paint to cover the marks we made earlier on the pieces. Allow the paint to dry.
Once the paint is all dry we can start to glue the “boards” onto the full apple shape. I like to do just three first (the 2 edge pieces and the center one) then give the glue time to dry. This way I am more apt to get the pieces spread across the apple evenly and have even gaps between the boards.
Once the glue holding the first set of boards is set up so they won’t move around add the last two boards the same way. This time we need the glue to dry completely because next we are going to be doing some more painting.
Next I painted my stem with some brown paint but I did change the color of the stem later in the video, I just wasn’t happy with the color I used at this point.
Now we are going to start to age/dirty up the apple sign. I wanted this to look like it was made of old wood and had maybe been around a while. To do this we will need a warm/orangy brown color. I didn’t have any paint the color I wanted so I mixed two colors (a brown and an orange) to get a color I was happy with. Then it is just a matter of dipping your brush into water then just touch the paint and use the result as a wash on the sign. Be sure to always paint vertically on this step on this sign. Do thin coats and allow to dry in between. Then add more if you feel you need to.
Now we are going to add a wash with a dark brown paint, concentrating on the spaces between the boards. Paint on the wash then use a paper towel (or a dried out wet wipe) to wipe away excess. This way the spaces between the boards stand out and don’t disappear on the sign.
At this point in the project I decided that I was really unhappy with the color I had used for the stem so I used the same dark brown to paint over the stem and I am much happier. Allow the paints to dry completely.
Once dry finish the piece on both the front and back with coats of Mat Mod Podge. This will seal the paint and also help all those layers to blend together. Allow to dry.
Now if you wanted to take the project a step further this would be a good time to add either the last name of your doll family to the sign or maybe a message like welcome or home. Use a pencil to first write out whatever you want your sign to say then use white paint to do the final painting of the lettering. Once dry add another coat of Mat Mod Podge.
And here we have our sign on the front porch of he Beachside Bungalow along with last year’s apple projects.
As always I do want to sincerely thank all of you for watching my videos and reading my blog posts. It means so much to me that you are supporting me in this way. If I could ask you all to do just a bit more by subscribing to the channel and liking the videos and leaving comments. Those help more than you can imagine. Also if you could pass the links on to your friends I would appreciate it so much.
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