Vintage Supermarket Sign

Happy Friday! Today’s edition of Friday Flip is one I am practically giddy about. I am sharing how I turned an old galvanized metal tube into a vintage supermarket sign for our dining room. This is definitely one of my favorite DIY projects ever–I absolutely love the way this turned out!

So I recently did some hardcore junkin’ at my favorite mini-junkyard in the tiny town where I grew up. This lot belongs to my uncle, who is a life long junker himself. This spot is a treasure trove full of scrap metal and random finds from years and years of farm sales and auctions. My uncle is nice enough to let his crazy niece dig through this lot whenever we are in town. And boy, did we hit the jackpot during our last trip. Among other things, I stumbled on this long, galvanized metal tube.

I have no idea what it was used for in its former life. Heater vent maybe? But either way I knew what I wanted to do with it the second I saw it. It was magic. I quickly told my parents and husband that I was going to make a sign with it and they looked at me like I was crazy. But I knew it had potential to be something great. And this is what came to mind.

These lovely signs were my inspiration as I dusted off that old tube and loaded it in our truck. I have especially wanted to find a supermarket sign like this one here, which belongs to my hero Joanna Gaines. It is perfectly rustic and vintage. Fortunately the metal tube I found was fairly lightweight, so I knew we could hang it up on the wall. It was meant to be!

For this project I followed the same steps I used for my DIY bakery sign. It’s crazy easy and fast. Here’s how I did it:

Supplies Needed:

• Scrap Metal (just make sure it isn’t too heavy if you plan to hang it on the wall)
• Black Paint & Small Paintbrush
• Printed Letters (I used font Modern No. 20 in size 550)
• Pencil for tracing
• Sandpaper (if you want to roughen it up a bit)

Print your letters, cut them out, and tape them on the metal. Make sure everything is as even as possible. This is also a great way to see how your sign will look and if you love it before the painting begins.

After all the letters are in place, simply trace around them with a pencil (I found that a pencil works best on metal).

When tracing is done get ready to paint!

Keep going…..This part is definitely a bit tedious and kind of painful if you paint curled up in a ball like I do. So be sure to stop and stretch your neck out. And maybe drink a cup of coffee. Or three.

Ta-da! I let the paint dry for about 30 minutes, then I took it outside and sanded the letters slightly. I just wanted to roughen it up a bit and add to the vintage appeal. This is also helpful if you made any mistakes painting, it blurs the edges perfectly.

Done! We drilled holes in the back, put anchors in the wall, and hung her up. Easy peasy. I loooove the way it turned out. It’s exactly what I envisioned and it didn’t cost me a dime. Boom!

This was such a fun DIY and so incredibly easy to do. Let me know what you think and remember–sharing is caring my friends!