Christmas Tree Bible Quote

 Sorry about the long absence people!  We finally got moved into our new house and are somewhat settled.  Man, I forgot how much work moving is!  The hardest part for me though was we had trouble with our phone lines and it took forever to get a technician out to fix it so I could get my Internet working.  I was 17 days without Internet access.  I have felt so disconnected from the world!  It sure feels good to be back!

Anyway, a couple weeks ago was WYLTC and I wanted to share my project with you in-case you missed it over there.  The theme this month was Christmas (of course!) and everyone made some super cute stuff.  So be sure to check them all out.

I'll be back tomorrow with a progress report on our house at this point.  Although there is still a ton to do, we have come SO far!

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Hello!  Krystal from Sassy Sanctuary here.  Isn't Melinda's Christmas tree stand adorable?!  What a fun alternative to a tree skirt.  Unfortunately, just like last month, I am in the process of moving and don't have access to any of my power tools.  I don't have a tree yet either, so a tree stand was out for me.  Bummer, cause its SO cute!

(Before you feel too bad for me though, we are moving TODAY so things are finally going to start to settle down!  Hooray!)

So instead of a tree stand I just thought about Christmas Trees in general. (that works right!?) I went to the craft store and found a frame that had a 12x12 opening and decided to make one of those cute signs that uses a quote as the shape of the tree.... you know.... like this!

 

Now, I have to confess that this was one of those projects were everything went wrong!  First I painted the frame and the board inside the frame the same grey color, used vinyl to make a stencil for the text and antiqued the heck out of it.  It was cute but the colors I used were so similar that it was hard to tell what it was from a distance.  I hated it.

So I redid the inside of the frame only (the outside stayed) in a cream color and used a bolder color pallet to paint on the text.  This time though, for some reason when I pulled up the vinyl stencil it took half the paint with it.  It was a disaster!

Then miracle of miracles, I got a fun package in the mail from Oh My Crafts later that very day.  They sent me some vinyl to review  (more on that later!) and they had a ton of colors.  So I decided to give this poor sign one more shot.  This time I painted the inside of the frame a light grey color, I added some "birchwood" texture inspired by my friend Sarah (although mine turned out more like a snow storm) and then just cut the text from the vinyl.  

I worked like a dream! (the OMC vinyl is amazing!)

I love how it turned out and I LOVE the bible verse to remind me what Christmas is really all about.  And it looks great with the rest of my mantle decor!

The outside of the frame turned out super cute too with the little stencil I put on the corners.  I'm thinking once Christmas is over I will reuse the frame with something else.

Anyway... I thought it would be fun to share the file I used to make the tree.  So if any of you are silhouette users, you can click HERE and download the file to cut a bible verse tree of your very own. 

Personal Use Only Please!

(let me know if that link works since I've never shared files that way before.)

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!

As always I'm linking to these great parties and events:

Wood You Like to Craft?- Candlestick Rabbits

I'm so excited to host Wood you like to craft? this month!  For those of you who may not have heard, Wood you like to Craft? is a bloggers craft group. We have gathered four fun blogs that have a love for wood crafts. Each month we will be creating one project selected by the "host." Then each of the other bloggers will take a turn showing their variation of the same craft. But we want you to join in too! We will have a week long link party so you can make and share your take on the month's craft. We can't wait to see all the twists and turns one project can take!

When trying to decide what to create for this months craft, I had a few things in mind.  I wanted to do something cute for Easter (after all, Easter is kinda a big deal!) and I wanted it to be something anyone could do.  I love wood crafts but am new to the power tool world.  I know how intimidating it can be at first.  So I came up with the Candlestick Rabbit.

They are super fun and quirky.  I love how they turned out and look so cute mixed into my spring mantle display! (reveal to come) But even better then that, they were a blast to make!  I made the set during one nap time.  And no need to fear if you aren't comfortable or have access to power tools.  All the supplies can be purchased at the craft store (mine came from Micheal's) except the ears, but you can get creative and make fabric or paper ears if needed.

Anyway, without further ado, here is how I made my Candlestick Rabbits. 

Materials needed (per rabbit):

unfinished candlestick
wooden egg
wooden ears (cut from 1/4" birch plywood)
craft paint
wood stain
fine point sharpie
hot glue
sand paper
embellishments (ribbons, buttons, beads etc.)

Step 1:  Gather your supplies.  I found unfinished wood candlesticks and wood eggs that fit on top at Micheal's.  I also got a piece of 1/4inch plywood.  You can find smaller pieces of wood to cut with at Micheal's too or from your local home improvement store.  Most of the other supplies you will probably have on hand, but check the list above to be sure.  (image A)

Step 2:  The candlesticks had a metal holder on the top for the candle.  I planned on just pulling that out, but it actually just crumpled so I just folded it down. (image B)  Just do whatever you have to in order to allow the egg to sit firmly on the candlestick.

Step 3:  Next you need to cut out your ears.  I made paper templates and traced them on my wood and cut them out with my scroll saw.  You can see the shape of the ears in the image. (image C and D)  You want the ears to connect together so you have a place to glue it on.

Step 4:  Time for assembly.  Hot glue your egg to your candlestick.  I filled the entire hole with hot glue and then placed my egg on top.  (image E and F) Then you paint.  I gave everything a coat of white craft paint. (image G) and added the nose and ear details. (image H, I, and J)  I decided the ears were a little much after painting them, so I did a light coat of white over the top.  You can still see the pink showing through, its just a little more subtle. (image K)

Step 5:  Sand.  I wanted to antique the whole thing a bit, so I roughed everything up with some sand paper (image L) and then put a coat of wood stain over the top. I then added the eye and mouth details with a sharpie.  You can use paint of course, but the sharpie sure makes it easy! (image M)

Step 6:  The last step is hot gluing the ears to the back of the head (image N) and then its time to embellish.  My boy rabbit got a bow tie and some buttons, and my girl got a bow for her hair and a necklace.

Aren't they cute?!  I just love them to bits.

So that's it.  The Candlestick Rabbit.

I can't wait to see what other versions everyone comes up with and I sure hope you'll play along too.  Remember that this tutorial is just to give you an idea of the basic process, but feel free to throw them out the window and do it your way. 

This week the other three Wood you like to craft? blogs will show their take on the craft and then the link party will begin on Friday and be open all next week so everyone has time to get linked up.  Next Sunday we will showcase our favorite projects and the "top cut" will win a prize.

Stay tuned!

As always I'm linking to these great parties and events:

Spring Round Up with Centsational Girl

 

Lucky Banner

I have to admit I was really bummed to take down my Valentine's decor.  I was slow to get it up and really only had a couple weeks to enjoy it.  I was in love with my cute heart banner and was sure I wouldn't be able top it.  But I really think the banners kinda "make" the mantle so I set out to make a St. Patty's day one too.

I went to Zurchers (a discount party supply store and the place I got my heart doilies) to see if I could find some inspiration.  I found fabric shamrock confetti and it all clicked.

Here is what I came up with.

I literally did a happy dance once I hung it.  I think its my favorite banner yet.

Here is how you can make your own.

Gather your supplies (A)  I used paper doilies, scrapbook paper (I used the scraps from my shamrocks and its a card stock weight) yarn, spray adhesive, hot glue, craft glue, tape and gold glitter. 

Start by spraying your doilies with the spray glue and gluing them to your card stock.  Cut them out leaving a bit of a boarder of the paper.  Then cut your letters out of the card stock and glue those down too. (B)

Then to give the letters a little extra punch, I lined them with craft glue and glittered. (C)

Then you use a hole punch and make holes in the circles so you can string them up.  Thread the yarn through and spread everything out. (D) You can see in the image how I tried to space it evenly and left extra yarn at the ends.  Tape the yard in place on the back of the circles so everything stays put.

Then you take your confetti and sandwich the yarn between two shamrocks, hot gluing in place. (E)  I did two shamrocks between each letter and two on each end.

Then just hang and enjoy! (F)



So there you have it.  The completion of my St. Patty's Day mantle.  Love it!
And just a reminder, Wood you like to craft? starts today at Under My Umbrella.  Be sure to check it out!

As always I'm linking to these great parties and events: