What the fork? A canteen sign inspired by Luna Park!

: A little sign pointing the way to the school canteen

Our little school canteen needed a new sign, but there wasn’t much room, so I bought a plank of wood to attach to the wall.

Shortly beforehand, while I was pondering what style to use, I happened to visit Luna Park in Sydney, where I found the perfect inspiration in the form of a gorgeous retro toilet sign…

fork 096

… so when I got home I took a photo of my hand holding a fork…

The fork had some lovely reflections, but luckily the glove would hide my bitten nails.

… which gave me the perfect model to draw the fingers and hand position.

I think the fork ‘prodding’ the lettering gives an added bit of fun and movement for the children to enjoy.

How to grab parental attention on the playground…

School noticeboard for parents

This cute little delivery truck is designed to help grab busy parents’ attention while they’re waiting to collect their children at school. It will be added to a large, neglected noticeboard near the playground. Another photo below shows the truck in situ. The notices for parents are pinned up on the right side of the truck as if they’ve fallen out the back. Every so often I will paint a replacement picture so the noticeboard will become a more dynamic and interesting place.

Unfortunately the noticeboard has a large piece of scratched old Perspex which catches the glare and the dirt, but the effect is still much better than before. Even if the little red truck doesn’t automatically grab adults’ attention, hopefully students will point it out to their parents!

Making the school noticeboard a more interesting place…

You don’t need your glasses to read this canteen sign!

After the old junk-food advertisements were (thankfully!) taken down from above the school canteen, it was looking a little drab, so a friend and I painted this sign one weekend. I drew the lettering freehand on a large piece of paper, then cut out the letters to make a stencil. Unfortunately, it happened to be very windy on the day I tried to put it up on the wall, so my struggles with the enormous cut-out would have been hilarious if there had been any onlookers (though the swearing wasn’t pretty). Somehow I managed to stick it up long enough to draw the outlines on the wall… eventually.

I really like the fruit and vegetables we painted within the lettering, but in retrospect I think the bees buzzing around may be a little too suggestive of flies (or is that just me?). I also think the lettering is a trifle too large, and I regret not having painted the background. Overall though, it’s a big improvement, and the colours fit in nicely with the existing rainbow painting and the murals we painted on the nearby columns.

Fun Fundraising Thermometer

Our P&C Fundraising committee decided that they wanted a thermometer to show their progress and enthuse contributors. Amongst the clutter in my garage (which stores everything but the car), I found this old piece of chipboard. A friend and I painted a fun and friendly design and added coins made of gold foil that catch the light nicely (though they look rather dull in this photo). The central “tube” of the thermometer is made of white cardboard which I remove and replace each year to start fundraising anew. The kids love colouring in the thermometer with red texta after each fundraising event.

Where’s the library? Just look for the sign!

School library sign

Our new librarian noticed that new students and their parents had no idea where the library was. Even when she pointed it out, many were unsure which door she was referring to. So she tentatively asked me if I was interested in making her a library sign. Well, there was only one thing I could say to that: “Goody!” I bought a large sheet of craftwood from the local hardware story and drew a lovely big oval on it. My husband very kindly cut it out for me and a friend and I spent a couple of happy afternoons painting it.

I particularly like the lively colours and “cartoony” feel of this design. And, not to waste an opportunity for a giggle, we’ve given each of the books a fun title/author combination like “Late for School” by Miss D. Buss.