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:
Songbird & Cottage Magpie
