After years of battling illnesses, incurring massive medical costs and having to dip into their children’s college funds, the Lyons family of Flower Mound devised a creative way to replenish those funds as a family. Together, they began a mobile sign painting business, creating unique signs and experiences for the community.
“We started our painting party business in 2017 as a way to help pay for our daughters’ college tuition,” Tracey says. Tracey had been ill for several years, and in 2014, she received a life-saving liver transplant. “Actually two,” she explains, “as the first one rejected after a couple of months.
During that time, Tracey experienced several medical setbacks and spent about 130 days in the hospital.
“As you can imagine, medical bills and medication expenses were high. We ended up using some of our daughters’ college funds to help pay for some of the expenses,” Tracey says. “We had to temporarily move to Indianapolis, Ind., to get the transplant.”
During that time, Tracey and her husband Jeff left their daughters Brittany and Kaylee here with friends to keep their lives somewhat normal. “What we thought would take about three months ended up being over eight months,” Tracey says.
Once Tracey recovered, the family set out to replenish the college funds they had depleted. “As a family, we decided that doing mobile painting parties and making handmade wooden décor was what we wanted to do,” Tracey says.
“Our business has really been a blessing for our family and brought us closer together. We spend a lot of time prepping for and running the parties and also making handmade wooden home décor,” she says. “We are thankful and blessed by all of our amazing customers for supporting us.”
Tracey says community members interested in hosting a party can email her at signsworthsaying@gmail.com with their preferred date and time. Once the party is scheduled, Tracey will set up a Facebook event for the host to invite friends and family. Party guests will be able to view design options and order. Each guest picks their own design, and custom designs are available for an additional fee. All signs are preordered, stained and stenciled prior to the party. Sign prices begin at $30 and range in size.
“We arrive approximately 20 minutes early to set up the party. We bring 60 paint colors and all supplies needed to paint your sign,” Tracey says. “By the end of the party, everyone will leave with a beautiful masterpiece that you will be proud to display in your home or give as a gift.”
In addition to providing guests with a beautiful piece of art, Tracey says, Signs Worth Saying offers guests a memorable experience.
“Our parties are perfect for girls night, birthdays, bridal showers, church events, holiday parties, fundraisers, corporate events – whatever the occasion, we have it covered,” Tracey says. “We hope our customers have a great time and will use social media and word-of-mouth to share their experience.”
When they are not hosting parties, like during the COVID-19 crisis, the Lyons family continues to make and sell their wooden décor online.
“We do sell wooden décor through Facebook,” Tracey says. “Most of our orders are local, so we can deliver or customers can pick up at our home. We also offer shipping.”
Signs Worth Saying offers many kinds of wooden décor and signs. “Our ‘welcome’ porch signs are very popular along with our lazy susans,” Tracey says. “The porch signs can be made double sided at the customer’s request. We also make round door hangers with last names, ‘hello,’ ‘welcome,’ or whatever the customer would like. We have bunny, pumpkin and snowman cutout door hangers, serving trays, candy corn sets, Solo cup holders, firecracker porch sets and monogram décor.”
For more information about Signs Worth Saying, visit Facebook.com/SignsWorthSaying.