Paddling On!

I talked about muddling through the day with a headache in my last blog post, but my head is feeling better, so I'm paddling on! In fact, I'm going to talk about our paddle today.

We purchased this paddle at Jay's Sporting Goods in Clare (Michigan) in 2006. It was nothing fancy - just a plain paddle. I found it on a clearance rack - half price if I remember correctly - and I wanted to use it as part of the decor in this home. Not sure where. Not sure how. As you can tell from the first photo, I finally decided where & how I wanted to use it. (In my defense, it took us a while to get to this home; but we kept paddling on until we made it!)

Why not stencil the word "Lake" and hang it above the front door? Sounded good.

I picked up a package of adhesive stencils for $1.00 on clearance at Walmart a while back, and they were the proper size for this project. I adhered them to the paddle and traced around the edges of the letters with a small awl.

Next, I colored in the letters with a white paint pen - using 2 coats for good coverage. Then, I freehanded 2 arrow points - again with 2 coats of paint. Lastly, I went over the entire paddle with some furniture scratch cover stain. It had gotten a little beaten up as it traveled from place to place - house to house. The stain helped hide the scratches on the paddle and also made the white lettering look a little less stark.

The paddle has found a home - hanging above the trim surrounding our front door and sidelight.

I should point out that the arrows DO point toward Lake Superior. Of course, since the Keweenaw Peninsula is surround by Lake Superior on 3 sides, maybe it would have been more appropriate to have arrows going 3 different ways? Nah, too confusing. As it is now, the arrows DO point out the SHORTEST way to Lake Superior.

I haven't forgotten about sharing some of our Copper Harbor 4th of July photos. I'm working on them!

All is well in the Keweenaw.

Shared on Friday Frenzy at Close to Home
and on That Friday Blog Hop at xoxo Rebecca.