Christmas Craft

Do you guys follow Southern Hospitality? Well if you don’t your missing out. Her blog is full of thrifty treasures and get projects…….like this one!

Rhoda crafted a few signs that I fell in LOVE with so I decided to tackle the project.

Click HERE to see Rhoda’s informative how-to.

At the bottom of this post I’ll give you a few extra tips and tricks in case you decide to make your own set.

Tips and Tricks

1. If you decided to paint your letters and or wood base white spray them with a primer first. This wood just soaks up pain. I didn’t and I used a whole can of spray paint for these bad boys. What a waste! When I thought about primer it was already too late.

2. Sand down any rough edges before you spray paint. I didn’t do this (don’t know why I didn’t do it) and I had to sand and re-spray over the sanded edges.

3. Make sure you have some down time or do not mind doing this project in intervals. There is a lot of waiting while things are drying (spray paint, modge podge, wood glue, painted polkadaots, top coat). I just cleaned house while I was waiting.

4. I used a rolling pin to roll out roll out air bubbles after I applied scrapbook paper. It worked really well and I did not end up with any wrinkling or air bubbles. If you do not have a rolling pin you can also use Rhoda’s technique.

5. The boards I purchased have a raised center which made it hard to precut the paper. I tried to trace as close as I could to the actual size of the raised board. I applied the paper and let the Modge Podge dry. Once the paper was harder I went back in with my scissor and cut around the edges to make them flush. I then dip my finger in a little Modge Podge and ran it along to side to seal them.

6. Use Rhoda’s tip to create the polkadots (such a great idea). The more paint you apply to the tip of the eraser the bigger your polkadot will be.

7. If you mess up on one of your polkadots just use a damp paper towel to wash it off and start over. I originally had black polkadots as well and didn’t like them when it was all finished. I carefully wiped them off and used another color to cover any residue that way left behind. You can also use a q-tip with a little waterdown nail polish to remove any excess residue after wipping.

8. I wiped a little stain not only on the wood but over the scrapbook paper and letters as well. I did this after everything was dry.

9. To secure the ribbon to the back of the plaque I made a little loop (I used this loop to hang the sings on the wall) and nailed the ends of the ribbon to the back board. Once they were hooked on the wall I used a separate strand of ribbon and tied a bow over the nail. Hope I’m not making this sound too confusing; it’s really not.

10. Oh I almost forgot, I finished it off with a top coat to give it little shine.

Such a great project!! I’m planning on making a different set to use in my kitchen after Christmas that says EAT. You could recreate this and make a set for a shower gift with the child's name, hostess gift, Christmas gift, teacher gift……….

I'm linking up with:
Girl Creative
Blue Cricket Design