The Old Mountain Jug

Remember a couple weeks ago when I picked these jugs up at a garage sale?  The smaller one I just liked, but when we saw the larger one, we knew it looked exactly like The Old Mountain Jug.  Go to the link to read all about the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug, an annual football game played between Appalachian State and Western Carolina (alma mater of Rachel from Big Brother - gag me).  Anywho, we knew we needed to make a replica of it to take to the annual ASU vs. WCU game.

First, I spray painted the whole thing with Krylon Indoor/Outdoor gloss spray paint in Sun Yellow.

Next, I used this image of Yosef, ASU's mascot, to make a stencil.  Both ASU's and WCU's mascots have been updated since the Jug was created, but I had to be authentic and use the old logos.  Making a stencil was harder than I thought it would be and took some time, but it was worth it in the end.

Using the stencil, a stencil brush, and black ceramic paint  to create Yosef on one side of the Jug.

The finished Yosef!  I'm happy with it (as long as I don't look too closely).

Next, it was time to write Mountaineers under the Yosef head.  I've used this technique a lot and it's really effective.  I printed the word Mountaineers in Arial (95 pt I think), roughly cut the letters apart, then turned each slip of paper over and rubbed a pencil on the back.  I then taped each letter (right-side up) to the Jug in a small arc under Yosef, and traced the letters.  The pressure from tracing them transferred the pencil graphite to the Jug.  I've learned that graphite from a pencil transfers to just about anything.  After they were all transferred onto the Jug, I used the smallest paintbrush I could find and filled them in with black ceramic paint.

Now, time for the opposing side of the Jug.  I used this image for the WCU Catamount.  A stencil was not going to work this time because of all the spots and separate pieces so I decided to use the graphite tracing technique for this side.

No need to trace perfectly.  In fact, you don't even really have to trace, just rubbing pencil all over the back achieves the same effect.  You only have to be careful about tracing on the right side.

The hardest part was getting the Catamount positioned in the same spot the Yosef was positioned on the other side.  In the end, it should be about an inch to the left, but as long as we don't tell anyone, I don't think they'll notice.

The Catamount after being traced onto the Jug.

The finished Catamount!  Not too shabby.  I had to use acrylic paint for the tongue because I didn't buy any red ceramic paint at Michael's, and I can definitely tell the difference (the ceramic paint is shiny and the acrylic isn't), but it was worth it to me not to have to buy another bottle of paint that I will probably never use again.

Positioning the letters proved to be a struggle too, but I just had to keep telling myself that I'm the only one who will ever notice if the C and the S aren't at the same height.

And now, for the finished product...

(Drumroll, please...)

And here's the "real life" Old Mountain Jug (excuse the crappy Internet pictures):

Chancellor Peacock carrying the Jug after an ASU win!

And sadly, I guess WCU has to win sometimes. (This was the. only. picture of the Catamount side I could find on the net, so I can't really tell how good or bad of a job I did recreating it, but I like to think mine looks better than the real one.)