As most of you know Mr. Handy and I became "Lake People" almost a year ago. In the last year, we have renovated the kitchen, put in new floors, added new trim, a new deck and dock and it seems like it is a never ending list of things to-do to this little cabin on Lake Sinclair in Eatonton, GA!
But what I want to talk about in this post is "pre-lake house" dreams and visions. You see, Mr. Handy and I have wanted a place on the water for almost 10 years now. We tried out RV ownership and really found out that wasn't for us...at $4.00 a gallon and 10 miles per gallon, it wasn't a hard decision! So for the last 10 years, I had been hoarding things that I found along the way that would go in our imaginary "lake house". These things would be from yard sales, thrift shops, stuff that my mom would give me that would just HAVE TO USE IN MY LAKE HOUSE! Again, the lake house we didn't yet own. But there is one item that I bought at a well-known regional craft fair called
The Yellow Daisy Festival, that is hosted at Stone Mountain every fall. And I haven't missed that fun event in years! In one of my many ventures to that festival, I stumbled across a vendor that completely and utterly helped me to create the vision for what I wanted my lake house to be like. The company's name is
Go Jump in the Lake. The moment I stumbled across their booth, I was forever a fan. They are a specialty sign maker, focusing in on a vintage feel, mostly (at the time) with lake, river and beach themed signs. They have since expanded their offerings and have a tremendously strong product line.
The first time I found them, I was blown away. I stood in their booth in awe and amazement looking at every single item they had. We had not yet purchased a lake house, so I couldn't buy one of their signs that had a local lake name on it. But what I did find was something that brought tears to my eyes. I knew when I bought it, it would be used in my, future, imaginary, not-yet-owned lake house. It was a large yellow sign that read
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray". This is my favorite "happy" song. It is a song that I have sung to both of my kids a million times. I sang it to them when they were sleepy. I sang it to them when they were grumpy. I sang it to them when they were sad. I sang it to them when they were happy. And they sang it to me. It is such a simple little thing. And this little song was a simple little private moment that I, and I alone shared with my children. And when I saw this beautiful, sign...I knew it was all for me. And I bought it. And I knew in my heart of hearts this awesome, heartfelt sign WOULD be in my lake house.
And what is so amazing, it was almost three years later that this sign is hanging in my lake house, just as I had envisioned it.
How could this sign not bring a smile to your face?
This awesome sign is BIG. And it hangs in my bathroom that is decorated in yellow and blue. It is bright, and cheery and keeps me smiling. And it adds to the essence of what this get-away is all about for our family. Yes the folks at
Go Jump in the Lake get it...they get me. I have never had an emotional reaction quite like that before, and haven't ever since. It was even an inspiration for my blog...I mean I am The Sunshine Toker right??
We did go ahead and add the "Lake Sinclair" sign to our living room a couple of months ago. It felt so necessary to have this...not because I didn't know where I was...but because I wanted a reminder that I finally could pick out my sign that had MY lake on it! I couldn't do that the first time I crossed paths with this awesome company!! I bought the sign from a little shop in Milledgeville, GA and the guy checking me out asked me which lake I lived on...he didn't catch it. I thought it was kinda funny.
So here is a little-bit about them and how they got started:
Based in Acworth, Georgia, we're the orginal creators of the Go Jump in the Lake rustic wooden lake sign.
We literally started in our kitchen in 2006 making a few signs for fun on small scraps of plywood.
The signs were so popular at our local craft show that we sold out before lunch. That night we made 40 more and sold out of those as well.
We continued as a hobby for seval years doing local craft shows and growing our list of products. We began selling nationally in 2009, selling at the Atlanta Gift mart.
We were the first company to bring the slogan Go Jump in the Lake to the lake category and the only other companies selling screen printed artwork on wood were Ohio Wholesale and Sawdust City.
Our work and work from Primitives by Kathy has no doubt shaped the category and inspired many people to make rustic wooden signs.
A quick look on Pinterest and Etsy will tell you how poplar the sign category has become.
Although our first work was done in our kitchen, we now work out of a 5000 sq ft industrial warehouse in Acworth Ga and with the help of 9 employees, we sell to 700 stores nationwide.
We love what we do. Every day we make a hand-made, made in the US product that is like nothing else out there and we're very proud of each and every sign that leaves our shop.
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