Recreating the Look of Vintage Metal Signs / Garage Signs with a Cabinet Door

Every year, I always try and come up with one good patriotic project to post around July 4^th. Sometimes the ideas come easily, but this year I struggled to think up even one upcycling idea in red, white, and blue! That is, until I found a bright red cabinet door at Habitat ReStore. I decided that it would be perfect for recreating the look of vintage metal signs / garage signs of days gone by. All it needed was a little touching up and a patriotic slogan!

Here’s where I’m going with this – reach back a few decades to World War II. To a time when American patriotism was high, and the USA had a common enemy (well, a few enemies) overseas- and it wasn’t each other here at home. When Pin-ups sold war bonds and Uncle Sam’s face was everywhere on signs and posters.

Vintage metal signs or garage signs are amazing treasures, for sure, but they are PRICEY. That’s what I decided to recreate that look by touching up a cabinet door and adding a patriotic slogan. This post contains affiliate links for your crafting convenience.

Recreating the Look of Garage Signs / Vintage Metal Signs

To get started, I first needed to remove all the hardware, which included soft-close cabinet hinges and a heavy black metal knob.

Now- I promise you I’m not crazy, but I decided that the cabinet door was the wrong red.

In my mind, I wanted the red to be more of a warm, tomato red- and not the blue-toned cherry red that was already on the door. So, I lugged it back into the garage for a quick sanding, just to rough up the surface a bit so that fresh paint could adhere better.

Once I wiped off all the post-sanding dust, I painted the outside rectangle with a deeper, warmer red (Farmhouse Red by Behr). This shade resembled the garage signs / vintage metal signs that I had in my head.

Next, I painted the interior rectangle a creamy off-white color. This is where my patriotic slogan will go and white will set it off nicely.

When the paint had dried, I lightly distressed the entire thing with my favorite flexible sand paper. Then, I gathered a specialty stencil with a patriotic slogan, my favorite stencil brushes (from this online store), and a blue paint that reminded me of vintage denim.

After centering the slogan, I stippled blue paint across the stencil. I loved that it was going to say “Buy American” – the perfect patriotic slogan for the vintage Americana look that I was going for.

I decided that I needed something else besides the patriotic slogan, so I added four stars, one to each corner, using this handy multi-size star stencil. And that was it!

Now it was really looking like the vintage metal signs / tin signs of days gone by!

Upcycling Cabinet Doors into Garage Signs for Patriotic Decor

I still felt that it needed one more finishing touch – I mean, I loved how it looked just like that. But, I went on Etsy to find a fun knob to cover up and fill in the hole left from the original knob!

And I found the perfect one in this amazing Etsy shop, which is filled will all sorts of goodies for projects. 

NOW it was complete, and I couldn’t be happier. Just looking at it makes me start humming “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”.

And upcycling a cabinet door is SO MUCH MORE AFFORDABLE than the vintage metal signs or garage signs that inspired me.

And let’s face it – “Buy American” is the perfect patriotic slogan. Can’t you just see this hung up in an old garage? Vintage Americana decor at its finest!

If you enjoyed this upcycling idea for patriotic decor, then you may also be interested in this July 4th wreath made from thrift store neckties, too!

Craft on!

S

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