Indoor/Outdoor cross wall hanging

This summer, when we went to Limestone, Maine to pick up my Hitachi mitre saw that I had ordered off of Amazon, we stopped at Parent's Country Store.  Thats where I seen this wrought iron cross.  I immediately knew it would look gorgeous painted black and mounted on a stained wood backdrop.

First of all, lets talk about my Hitachi mitre saw, though.  I love it!  

My husband & I have only used it for straight cuts so far but we are loving it!  I was so happy to find such a great deal on a quality saw.  Here in Canada they are super expensive.  Even paying the currency exchange and duties, it was a lot cheaper to buy from Amazon in the US.  Click on the picture to be taken to this saw on Amazon.

Back to the cross wall hanging.  I first measured the cross from tip to tip, determining how far past the tips I wanted the wood backdrop to show.  Then, I was able to use some leftover lumber and cut them the same lengths.  After a quick sanding with my rotary sander, I got my husband to give me a hand Kreg Jegging them together.  Another quick sanding took off the splinters caused by drilling the pocket holes.  Next, I used the leftover exterior stain from my custom shutters and barn doors and stained the boards.  With semi-transparent exterior stain like that, it only requires one coat.  Lastly, even though it didn't require it, I did give it two coats of a matte top coat by Saman.

Here is the cross as it looked when I bought it.  I am not a fan of the antique brass look so I had planned right from the start to paint it black.

​For some odd reason, I have no idea why, it wouldn't take the spray paint right.  I even went and bought a different brand of spray paint and even that bubbled up.  I prepped in between the two different paints, too.

So, I sanded the last attempt off, cleaned it and primed it by hand using Plaster Paint Canada's New Surface primer.  That stuck just fine.

After priming, I painted two coats of Caviar by Dixie Belle Paint Company.  Leaving it a day or so to cure, I finished up with two thin coats of Dixie Belle Paint Company's Gator Hide.  This is a durable top coat that is even great for outdoors.  For the paint & Gator Hide, I used my Cling On brush.  These brushes can also be purchased through Dixie Belle.  I do so LOVE my Cling On brush!!!

I attached a heavy duty sawtooth picture hanger on the back, using No More Nails on the nails that went into the hanger as well as on the back of the hanger where it meets the wood.  I have found that it cements the hanger to the wood so I do this to every hanger I install.

The finished dimensions are 18.5" x 22.5"

If you are in the Limestone, Maine area or the Grand Falls, NB area, drop by Parent's Country Store.  You just may be lucky enough to find another cross there and be able to build one of these yourself!  

This particular wall hanging is for sale locally here in the Moncton, NB area for only $30 CAD.  Shipping can be arranged if the potential customer is willing to pay the shipping costs.