Merry Little Christmas

Here is sign number three, along with my little chipboard boxes.  I love the way that music paper fits into Christmas decor! I embossed the words on the paper first, then used Modge Podge for the whole thing to adhere it to the wood and then to seal it. I want something red in the middle of that bow but I haven't found just the right thing yet so the sign went up anyway because I needed to get it off my counter!

I didn't do the fancy shaping on the bottom of the wood - I managed to pick it up at a second hand store, coated in green paint.  I painted it black, then added a coat of off white, and covered it all with ebony stain for an old and weathered look.  It was an inexpensive, easy, fun and satisfying project!

Jingle all the way

 

Here is my newest little wood Christmas sign, using scrapbook paper and some Scrabble tiles.  I cut the letters out by hand, but am seriously considering a machine because of all the other projects I want to do that will require small letters and several fonts!  In the meantime, I am having fun :-) 

I have one finishing touch to put onto a bigger project and once I find the piece of material I need for the bow I have in mind, I will post the completed sign on my blog.  I might need to find space in the house to make a little wood working shop because I think other people are getting tired of having to look at my paint and sawdust in the laundry room!

Christmas Decorating

This year I decided it would be OK to start decorating early.  Usually I like to wait until closer to Christmas and Kate is impatient, wanting to get things going early in December, but this year I gave in and we have been decorating bit by bit since the end of November when I completed this wood sign - my first wood craft project in a long line of "hopefully I will get this made in time" ideas!

We absolutely needed one of these as soon as I saw the idea because, typically, our stockings are far too heavy to be supported by the rock solid stocking hangers that sit on the edge of a shelf or mantle.  We end up hanging them for decoration and then, once full, we lay them on the floor around the tree!  But when I saw this and realized I could screw it right to the wall (yes, I am going to make a general year-round appropriate sign that will hang in its place using the same holes in the wall!) I knew it was perfect for us! Now Kate is concerned that the loops won't hold up under this kind of pressure once the bottles of Bailey's go in, but that is another matter altogether ...

You can't really see the details in this picture because the lighting wasn't the best, but I had fun staining my nice new board to make it look old, and then spray painting it with a deep red, sanding it around the edges and wiping it with another coat of stain to make the whole thing look vintage.  Kate was proud of me for not only starting early, but also for finding a cool idea and actually trying it!  These stocking hangers are all over Pinterest, and they are actually pretty easy to to if you have the patience for the lettering part.  I like it when I can move something from an idea board to a real space in my house.

I'm now working on another couple of Christmas signs, along with some cute little boxes that will look like gifts on display and, if I have time left, I will probably do yet another sign, because I am really enjoying the whole beat-up-a-board-so-it-looks-weathered process.  I still get to work with my hands and be creative, but it gives me a break from the paper crafting I spend many hours on at this time of year.  I need to expand my area of creativity, so I have turned to wood!

Vintage Attic Album

I made this vintage style album using the Attic Boutique DSP from

Stampin' Up! and the coordinating pack of journalling cards. 

Pocket pages have pull out tags for extra photos,

journalling, and saving special memorabilia.

That hanging embellishment is an actual locket that opens

and there are two of these in the album.

There is no video for this one, but the above pictures show the entire inside.

The outside of the album measures 7 X 8.5". 

Christmas special: $40