DIY Christmas Card Tree {card display/holder}

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Roeshel

Christmas cards have been arriving in the mail! It’s the best time of the year for checking the mail. Walking to the mailbox in cold temps, anticipating ‘good tidings’ and walking back into the house with a warm heart. Thoughtfulness and “Merry Christmas” delivered to our mail box. It’s just one more part of Christmas giving that makes my days merry and bright! We have two ways for displaying Christmas wishes. One is something I put together using scrap wood and trim pieces:

How I made it:

I gathered the scraps of moulding we had lying around, a 1×3.5 and a 4×4 scrap block. My 1×3.5 is about 21 inches long, the 4×4 is about 6 inches long. Adjust measurements for what fits your scrap wood.

I placed pieces on my 1×3.5 to get an idea of where things would go. I often use FrogTape as a measuring tool and in this case, I used it to evenly space my trim pieces by using them as a guide between trim pieces. I used the 1.88 in. width. I also left a small space above the “top” trim piece to allow room for gluing on a star.

I measured my trim to fit the 1×3.5 piece for the top of my “tree”.

I cut my pieces at a 45 degree angle.

And lined up each piece for cutting…

and cut each piece at a 45 degree angle.

All pieces are glued using Gorilla Wood Glue and clamped as well as screwed into place.

The 4×4 was glued and clamped to the bottom {back} and serves to make the Christmas card display free standing.

Everything got a coat of milk paint (General Finishes “basil”) and glaze with a dry brush with a spritz of Krylon Glitter Blast. {front and back} FrogTape was used to keep the 4×4 block of wood from being painted (I considered staining the wood block but see instructions below for my change in plans).

I spray painted small clothes pins and a wooden star.

Next I hot glued the clothes pins into place, staggering so cards won’t overlap by too much when displayed {FrogTape containers are great for storing glue sticks and keeping craft supplies organized}…

and the star on top.

My plan was to wrap the base using jute twine. But I’ve misplaced it, so I used a pretty wool yarn I had on hand, securing with hot glue.

It’s such a cute way to display Christmas cards and pictures of my nieces and nephew:

a little Christmas card vignette display…

Doubles as a candle holder: When I don’t have anything to display, I can flip it to the back side, add a votive holder and candle…

Quick and Easy DIY Christmas card/photo display: Our other Christmas card/photo display is a tension rod. I simply sewed a sleeve, added curtain rings with clips. It’s been displayed in our window frame, on a small book case and in a (non working) fireplace opening. Here’s a picture from last year:

I love this idea from Family Fun too – a tomato cage Christmas card holder…

for more creative ideas, see my HomeTalk Christmas Card Display clipboard…

Which do you prefer? How do you display your Christmas cards? If you have a do-it-yourself Christmas card holder, feel free to leave a link in the comments {and I’ll add you to my HomeTalk clipboard}. 🙂

Sharing here:

*This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience. Results may vary.

His & Hers painted pillow covers

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Roeshel

His & Hers Pillow Covers

I shared my painted upholstered chairs…

I also liked that the Serena & Lily chair {my inspiration for the stripe} had matching accent pillows.

I just so happened to have 2 matching pillow cases on hand. What are the chances? I have had them just sitting in a basket in my craft room along with the other supplies. I love when DIY project was meant to be! {Chairs are actually a light grey and the pillows are a linen color…but they look so well together!}

Materials:

FrogTape
two pillow covers
latex paint
acrylic craft paint
stencils

I measured the width of the stripes on the chairs and using FrogTape,I created the same stripe on the front of my pillow covers. I did insert a piece of cardboard to prevent paint from soaking through the back side. I filled in my stripe with the brown latex paint that I used on the chairs. I removed the FrogTape and let them dry. Then simply used stencils to spell out “His” and “Hers” (using an acrylic craft paint). I’ve read that you can set the paint with a warm iron.

I also liked that some of the fabric shows through for a worn look.

Awe…His & Hers

Now my chairs are complete! Christmas in the sitting room coming soon! 🙂

*This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience. Results may vary.

Chevron Reindeer Games sign tutorial

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Roeshel

DIY Chevron Reindeer Games Sign

It’s officially time for Christmas decorating in our home! I know! By blogging standards, I’m late to the game. With a family room makeover in progress, it’s at a point where plans for completion can be put on hold until after the holidays and I can still decorate that room to be pretty once I put away the ladder and some tools. I really loved the chevron garden sign I made for summer {here}. I decided I wanted to create a fun colorful Christmas sign incorporating some of the fun colors in the fabric I chose for the curtains.

Remember the tabletop I replaced on the kitchen bar for the apartment? {If not, you can see my post on my DIY wood plank kitchen bar top.} Time to recycle it! I knew it’d be a great material for a DIY sign one of these days. Tabletop to holiday decoration. Why not? To prep for making a sign, I scuffed up the finish with sandpaper and gave it a coat of left over teal paint and let it dry. I’ll call it my “canvas”.

This is what the top looked like before:

Tips for creating a chevron pattern using FrogTape:

It’s hard to explain how to create a chevron pattern words/pictures {next time I’ll do a video} but some tips:

My first row is measured. 5″ strips of FrogTape.

Depending on how it would line up, I creased the edges of the tape (non-sticky side) to create a line for cutting.

Cut on fold.

I placed the angled side on my center pencil line and cut the bottom flush with the bottom of the canvas and smoothed it into place.

I drew vertical lines with my pencil from the peaks and “v’s” of my first chevron row.

Once my first line was in place, I used a piece of FrogTape for spacing, I worked from the center out by placing another longer piece of tape angled from the center pencil line down to the right pencil line.

Then I pulled up a corner and folded it on the pencil line so I would know where to cut. Most of the time, the pencil transferred to the sticky side of the tape, creating a cutting guide.

I repeated those steps until I reached the top and finished.

I used pink and white craft paint to add more color.

My plan was to paint the blue area showing green and peel away the FrogTape, but I decided to keep the FrogTape in place. {Paint colors: Benjamin Moore Pacific, DecoArt Pretty in Pink “Hope Pink” and Americana Warm White, Green is FrogTape}

Using my Silhouette Cameo, I chose a reindeer from the online store and my Cameo cut it out {brown vinyl}. I created my letters for “Reindeer Games December 25th” using the software and chose the premium dark red vinyl and LDI Fancy Font. I peeled away the negative vinyl (the parts that are not the design) and applied my transfer paper. I made sure the transfer paper was secure by rubbing with a credit card.

Peel away the backing {the vinyl is transferred to the tacky transfer paper} and place on canvas. Rub the design with a credit card to get it to stick and peel away the transfer paper. In my case, all of the design wasn’t transferring, so I had to be careful and some of my reindeer was applied just as I would a sticker.

I followed the same steps for my lettering, however, knowing that the transfer paper was tricky for my project, I chose to use Delicate Surface FrogTape (the yellow tape) to help transfer my letters. This worked a little easier than applying by hand like stickers and kept my lettering evenly spaced and level.

I haven’t had time yet, but since I have FrogTape and vinyl on my sign, I’m going to seal everything with a coat or two of ModPodge. Ta-da!

Non-traditional. Colorful. Fun. I love it. It fits in perfectly with my eclectic colorful family room.

What do you think? I just sort of quickly staged for photos so I could share this today. I’ll be re-arranging, re-decorating. In fact, this mantel is even moving to another wall. More on the family room renovation and Christmas decorating coming soon.

I will attach a saw tooth hanger to the back and hang and rearrange but…I wanted to get this done to share and to tell you something important:

*I was not compensated for my review but I did receive vinyl and I participate in the Silhouette America affiliate program and will earn a percentage of sales when you use the code “SHOWOFF” for your purchase. This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience. Results may vary.

Party time: