Making an “Antiques” neon sign into an outdoor light fixture

A couple of months ago I bought this LARGE antique neon sign at Architectural Salvage in San Diego.

I was looking for an unconventional item to use as a light fixture over my new outdoor table from Frontgate

This is the plan I came up with to make the transformation

The sign is an old and rusty neon sign that is 8 feet long.  The store employee told me it was double sided, and since I couldn’t see the other side being that it was against the wall, I took their word for it.  And technically it is, but not exactly.  Since the sign is so large and heavy, I wasn’t able to thoroughly check it out until they delivered it a week later.  That is when I actually got to give it the good once over.  I still loved it, in all it rusty goodness, but the other side looks nothing like the side I saw in the store.

There is a trace of the word “antiques” on the other side, but barely.  So I have been hand painting the letters back on the sign.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to make the letters look old and rusty like the other side.  I started with the “a” and the “n” and used white acrylic paint, which was probably not the best choice.  I lightly sanded the area first but didn’t bother to put on a primer or rust inhibitor before painting.  Totally winging it as I went along.

The next day when I went out to continue painting the other letters,  and the rust had already started to show through my freshly painted letters.  Woohoo.  I was never so happy to see rust!  But then it kept rusting, more and more.  Not good. So I went with plan “b” and bought a quart of Rustoleum white paint and painted over the letters again

The rust still shows through on the letters, but I am hoping that the Rustoleum will keep it at bay. Like I said, totally winging it, so only time will tell.

I only have two letters to go, and the blue highlighting around the letters.  Even though I haven’t finished, the process of making it into a non neon light fixture is in progress.  In this picture we were deciding on whether to use clear or amber LED.  I choose amber, the one on the “I”.

The new metal piece for the bottom is already cut and painted.  I am hoping to have it finished and hung by this weekend.  Unless the rust takes over my letters and then I have to go with plan “c”.  Which I have no idea what that is…so keep your fingers crossed.  If you follow me on Facebook, I am sure you will see a picture of it hanging before I get around to posting it here.