KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After tracing a Chiefs arrowhead template on metal, she slices into the outline with a plasma cutter -- a skill she picked up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, she uses a grinder to smooth the edges. Finally, the "legs" are attached and the artwork is ready to be displayed in yards to show love in Chiefs Kingdom.
"Anybody can do this," Liz Novo-Gradac said. " I used to have the same misconception of, 'I'll wait for my husband to get home and help me.' But, you don’t always have time to wait for your husband, you’ve got to figure out things on your own sometimes."
A neighbor who's a welder showed her the ropes, and, while she claims her welding might not be pretty, she said it gets the job done. And, truth be told, she seems to enjoy it. She looks at home in her barn, sparks flying, as she gazes intently through the new welding helmet her husband bought her for Christmas.
Once the welding is done, it's time to paint using products meant specifically for the outdoors.
"Since most of my decorations are going to be outdoors, you want them to last as long as they can," she said, while painting the edges of an Arrowhead with bright, red paint in sure, confident strokes.
This past football season, she estimated, she's made 30 to 40 Chiefs arrowhead yard signs.
It's a project that started when she began making nativity scenes for members of her church, along with other Christmas decorations.
And that inspired her to make a personalized present for her brother, a giant Patrick Mahomes sign.
"I like to make things that are unique and individual," Novo-Gradec said. "That way, when I give a gift to somebody they are the only ones who have it. And so, if anybody else asks me for Mahomes again I would do one for them, but I would have to make it a little bit different. Kind of like a Cabbage Patch Kid, they're all different."
She also made an Andy Reid cutout for another friend.
And it costs nothing to purchase these one-of-a-kind creations.
Sometimes she takes orders, and friends leave her a plate of cookies or a box of Cheez-its on her front porch. Other times, she surprises people like her neighbor Bridget Kiggens, simply leaving a sign in the front yard.
“She’s one of those neighbors that does that, one of those special people that you don’t meet every day; that you just get blessed by everything that she does,” Kiggens, a lifelong Chiefs fan, said.
Indeed, each sign Novo-Gradac makes is a labor of love, aimed at spreading the love.
"I just thought the world needed help this year, especially after a pandemic year," Novo-Gradac said. "That was my whole goal during that time, was just to offer some hope."
Although she shrugs off observations that her generosity is as special as the signs she creates, she said there's one instance where she will charge customers -- And that's if customers order a sign for any football team other than the Chiefs.