DIY Home Decor from a Salvaged Hobby Lobby Sign

I purchased this sign from Hobby Lobby on clearance years ago and I really liked it at the time! However, after the last time it fell and came apart is was time to turn this into a salvaged DIY Home Decor.

Supplies I Used

Hobby Lobby Sign: purchased on clearance years ago
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Cooking oil or spray
Paper clay
Powder: I use what I have on hand and right now I use baking soda.
Plastic Putty Knifes: this is not the set I use but it’s very similar
Elmers wood glue
Dixie Belle’s Slick Stick, Caviar, and Clear coat.
ReDesign with Prima mould: the one I used may not be available anymore. I will keep looking!
ReDesign with Prima transfer: Love and Dreams. I purchased this transfer from my friend Anna at The Furniture Boutique
Dixie Belle’s white wax
paint brushes
220 grit sandblock

let’s get started

Before I started my project, I prepped by cleaning the sign.

While I was cleaning, I noticed for the first time a pretty large chipped area on the plastic frame.

And the large chipped area that was missing included some pretty details which is one of the reason why I wanted to salvage this sign.

I either ignore it or fix it.

REPAIRS

I saw a year a two ago someone making moulds from hot glue for repairs so I thought I would give it a try.

Why not? I had all the supplies on hand!

The area that needed repair was approximately 6″ long.

I should have measured but I didn’t.

HOW TO MAKE A MOULD

Once my glue gun was heated up, I picked a section of the frame that was longer than the area I needed to fix.

I rubbed this area generously with cooking oil.

Then I started applying the hot glue from the glue gun to this area.

Let this section cool and applied more where needed until I enough of the area was covered to make a mould.

Once it was cool, I started peeling the glue off of the frame.

Sure enough, I had made my very own mould!

REPAIRING THE FRAME

I really enjoyed this part.

It brings back memories of using Play-doh!

I used Paper-Clay and tried to grab enough of this material so I can roll it into one ball and then spread into the mould.

When making moulds, if we piece in the Paper-clay into the mould, it may make the embellishment weak and easy to break.

For this reason, it’s best to use a little too much and then remove the excess.

PREPPING THE MOULD

To prep the mould, first dust it with powder.

I use what I have on hand and right now that’s baking soda.

This will make removing the Paper Clay from the moulds easier.

I grab my chunk of Paper-Clay, roll it into a ball and then start pressing it into the mould.

Once I have the Paper-Clay formed into the mould, I use a putty knife and sometimes just my fingers to remove the excess.

Then to remove the material from the mould I “break the seal”.

HOW TO BREAK THE SEAL

To break the seal for my DIY home decor project, I just work my way around the mould and pull the mould away from the Paper-Clay.

It will bounce back to the Paper-Clay but the seal is mostly broken.

Then flip the mould upside down onto the table and slowly pull the mould up away from the formed Paper-Clay.

APPLYING THE PAPER CLAY TO MY DIY HOME DECOR

Here I just manually worked the moulded paper-clay into the areas of the frame I needed to repair.

It took me a couple of tries, I removed some of the excess and I used Elmer’s Wood glue to secure the paper clay until it dried.

Next, prepping the sign with Dixie Belle’s Slick Stick.

PRIMING MY DIY HOME DECOR SIGN

I decided to go back to the basics and cover my entire sign with Dixie Belle’s Slick Stick.

I realized after this sign fell apart was made from MDF-like material and plastic for the detailed frame.

Both surfaces are pretty slick so I decided to prep my sign with two coats of Dixie Belle’s Slick Stick.

Chalk paint is pretty adhesive but I wanted to have a little more security that my finished product would pass the scratch test.

Click here to see how I finished my salvaged DIY Home Decor sign!