diy christmas decor – A Diamond in the Stuff

DIY Faux Christmas Chalkboard

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 14:00:49 +0000

In the Fall I created this DIY Faux Framed Chalkboard. Since it was Fall, I went with a Thanksgiving saying for the first chalkboard. Now that Christmas time has rolled around I needed to whip up a DIY Faux Christmas Chalkboard!

If you are looking for my tutorial on how I created my faux chalkboards you can see it HERE. I created mine using my Silhouette Cameo and it’s really a pretty simple project. Simple but beautiful.

I purchased the file from the Silhouette store so that made this one easy peasy! I just popped the faux chalkboard out of the frame, flipped it over, and created the Christmas chalkboard on the back of the Thanksgiving chalkboard. Then I popped it back in the frame.

The DIY Faux Christmas Chalkboard turned out gorgeous! It looks perfect in my entryway and is the perfect addition to my Christmas decor!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While you’re visiting, I’d love if you would come take a look at my Aqua and Red Christmas Tree…….

Pallet Christmas Tree

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 08:00:33 +0000

As you probably know I’ve been going crazy getting ready for my latest holiday show. The show was this past weekend and overall it was a success. I sold lots of goodies, made some great connections, and even had the chance to meet Hannah from Young and Crafty in person. Ya pretty awesome!!!

I was trying to round up as many ideas and projects to have a full booth as possible. I just happened to have some old pallets lying around and in the spirit of doing some stash busting, I decided to whip up some Pallet Christmas Trees.

The hubby popped some of the pallets apart for me and I measured everything out. Not a whole lot required for this project really. I used pallet wood for the trunk and all the “branches”.

The wood can either be glued or nailed together….or both really.

I could have left the wood trees alone at that point but I decided I wanted to add a little something else. I used my Silhouette to add the saying “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” to the tree. You can check out my technique for adding lettering to pallet wood HERE.

I whipped up a couple of these Pallet Christmas Trees for my show, but I’m thinking I may need to keep one for myself! I think they make the perfect porch decor…..don’t you?

So are you all done with your Christmas to-do? Presents, wrapping, cards, baking, parties, shopping, pictures???? Ugh me neither….off I go to be productive…….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While your here check out my other Christmas pallet project…..

Candy Cane Fence Board Sign

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 08:00:12 +0000

If you’ve been following my blog for awhile you know all about my Fence Board Signs. I love making them for different seasons and holidays. They are so fun and the options are endless. Since I have a big holiday show coming up I wanted to make some Christmas themed fence board signs, but I wanted to try something new this year.

In the past I stuck with just a simple phrase on the board but this go around I turned it into my Candy Cane Fence Board Sign.

I started out with a simple fence board from Home Depot. You can pick one up for less that $2. Most of them are pretty rough, which if that is the look you are going for is just fine. However, I plain mine down a bit to loose some of the roughness. Sanding will work too.

Since I was making the board into a candy cane the two colors I was working with was white and red. I decided to paint the whole board white, it helped “prime” the board and also take care of the white stripes.

Then it was time to prep the board for the red stripes. I grabbed my Frog Tape *love this stuff* and started taping things off. I slanted all of the tape to make it look like a true candy cane’s swirl of colors.

I spaced out the stripes and went down the whole length of the board. Be sure to press the tape down well along the way to prevent paint bleeding as much as possible. Remember if your board is rough, there still may be some bleeding but if you want a rough look it will be fine!

Finally it was time to add the red stripes. I just used some red craft paint that I had on hand and a foam brush to dab the paint on. It took a few light coats to get the color that I wanted.

Then it was time to add in the lettering. I cut out some vinyl using my Silhouette. Well actually it was contact paper (cheaper and easier for my to justify using as stencils which will just be thrown away). I weeded out the actual letters and kept the rest. Using transfer tape I put the vinyl on the board and burnished it down.

I wanted the lettering to stand out amongst the stripes so I went with black. Again just using some craft paint and a foam brush. I tried to be very careful filling in the letters with paint, trying to dab and not drag the brush.

When the black paint was dry I removed the vinyl to reveal beautiful lettering. I love the font!

All it needed was a couple hangers on the back and it was done!

Ah love it!

I can’t quite figure out if I love the candy cane stripes or the beautiful “Merry Christmas” the most. Ok, maybe just all of it is perfection!

I sure hope that my customers love it as much as I do.

Wouldn’t it be perfect on a mantel or adorning your Christmas porch? Where would you put this Candy Cane Fence Board Sign in your home?

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

Vintage Book Christmas Trees

Courtney Carmean — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 08:00:30 +0000

I love vintage items and one of my favorite vintage things is paper goods. Whether it be sheet music, maps, or old books. I grew up reading the Golden Books and have fond memories of the stories. I scored some Christmas themed Golden Books and decided they needed to be turned into a festive decoration.

Vintage Book Christmas Tree:

I happened to have some paper mache cones on hand and I’ve been trying to stash bust as much as possible. Win win. I choose the classic “The Night Before Christmas” for my paper mache Christmas trees. Pay no attention to these little wood finials, I ended up not using them.

I went through the book and tore the book pages into pieces. Then I used some matte Mod Podge to attach the pieces to the paper mache cones. I started from the bottom of the cones and placing them on randomly, worked my way to the top.

I didn’t end up putting anything on the top of the cones. They are pretty busy the way they are and have lots of personality, so I didn’t want to over do it. I’m still kind of wondering if they don’t need just something a little more? What do you think?

All of the old artwork is so bright, beautiful, and festive. Not only do these Vintage Book Christmas Trees make great decorations but they really do bring out some nostalgia!!!

I was able to capture specific quotes and sayings in the book on the trees. I mean who doesn’t know the ole “Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night”??? It’s classic!!!

I love how my trees turned out and I’m making a couple sets to bring to my upcoming holiday show. I hope they make everyone feel as nostalgic as me!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

Joy Pallet Sign

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 08:00:34 +0000

I happen to have a pile of pallet wood in my garage right now. Doesn’t everyone? Anyways, I wanted to start creating with some of this wood instead of just hoarding it. I was also itching to start working on some Christmas projects!

I grabbed some craft letters at Hobby Lobby and got to work. I stained them with wood stain first, then I painted them white with craft paint, and lastly I painted them with red craft paint. I gave the letters a little bit of distressing with a sanding block, didn’t want them to look too pristine next to the pallet wood.

When the letters were dry I used some wood glue to attach them to the pallet wood. I had my hubby attach the three boards together much like we did when I made my Autumn Pallet Sign.

I think this Joy Pallet Sign would be the perfect Christmas decoration for the porch. Can’t you just see it propped up in the corner by the door?

I must admit….I love love how it turned out! However, it will be on it’s way to my holiday show coming up!

So I must ask: Have you already decorated for Christmas? I have not and I’ve really been wanting to!!! We’re going out of town for Thanksgiving and it would be so nice to come home to the house decked out in red and green!

A girl can dream right?

Wood JOY Blocks

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 16:30:00 +0000

I don’t like to see anything go to waste around here, that includes wood scraps! In October I had a craft class where we made some Boo Blocks and I ended up having several leftover block sets. I couldn’t just toss them though, I wanted to come up with another use for them. Something Christmasy! So I created these Wood JOY Blocks.

I made them the same way that I made the Boo Blocks, so come check out that tutorial for an easy how to! These blocks are made from a 2×6 cut to 6, 7, and 8 inches tall. The block set ends up being a pretty big size and they look great sitting on a shelf or table top!

I ended up making several sets of these and I had a lot of fun mixing and matching fun Christmas scrapbook papers with each other. I’m loving this Christmas chevron paper that I found!!!

So why not make yourself a set, there’s still time! And make one for someone else while your at it, I think they would make a great gift! They can be made to fit any decor or Christmas theme!!!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With days left until Christmas we are counting down the days!!! Come take a look at my Christmas Chalkboard Countdown for a fun way to mark off the days!!!