At Table

The inspiration for making this sign came from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together in the section titled The Fellowship of the Table.
Bonhoeffer states the following:

"...Christians, in their wholehearted joy in the good gifts of this physical life, acknowledge their Lord as the true giver of all good gifts; and beyond this, as the true Gift; the true Bread of life itself; and finally, as the One who is calling them to the banquet of the Kingdom of God. So in a singlur way, the daily table fellowship binds the Christians to their Lord and one another."
"Our life is not only travail and labor, it is also refreshment and joy in the goodness of God. We labor, but God nourishes and sustains us. And this is reason for celebrating."

With our family beginning we've thought a lot about what traditions and values we want to instill. The desire to meet around the table for meals and to be reminded, as a family, of God's sustenance and to be refreshed in the goodness of God was my motivation for this project. I wanted to have a written reminder of the importance of that time.

First I designed my text using Silhouette Studio and very carefully cut "at table" out on white vinyl.
Then I stuck transfer paper on top, flipped it over, and peeled the excess vinyl off.

When cutting vinyl you almost always get these pesky guys that won't come up easy, so I use a sewing pin to lift the corner and get rid of all those.

So here's the vinyl, sticky side up, backwards and ready to be stuck somewhere!

I grabbed my already painted piece of wood, lined that vinyl goodness up as well as I could, and got enough courage to start smoothing it down.

My secret weapon is this scraper thingie. It really helps to get the vinyl to stick to the new surface and to smooth out any bubbles.

So, I was so happy with how well the vinyl lettering turned out, but I wanted this sign to look weathered. First I tried sanding, but it was sissy in comparison to what I had in mind. So I grabbed this thingie(notice I'm at a loss for proper words today) and starting scraping the edges with it...muuuch better!

I got a little carried away and really gave this piece a beating. If you take a closer look, you'll see where my hand slipped and I ripped through a small section of the "B". Woops! But hey it added to the fake wear and tear.

I was almost finished, but not quite! The letters were way too bright white for me, so I got out my Distress Ink and tested it on scrap vinyl first.

After applying the ink and usig a rag to rub it in a tad bit I was finished, and I love the outcome!

I think my sign will be happy in its new home in our dining room! Yes, that is a messy kitchen.

"Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart" (Ecc. 9:7); "I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful" (8:15); but, of course, "apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? (2:25)

I'm linking up with:

 Today's Creative Blog