Wooden Christmas Garland

Decorating for Christmas is something I look forward to all year-storing things away that I collect throughout the changing seasons-until I feel that first nippy bite in the air.
One of my neighbor’s had their visiting father-who I have come to adore-knock on my door this past spring. It was no surprise that he came to me with a stack of cedar chunks from a felled tree.
And to quote the father (with a severe southern drawl), “When I saw these, I just knew if anyone could do something with them, it’d be you.”
Apparently, my reputation precedes me….

And I hope I haven’t let him down or failed his expectations of just what I could “do with them”. For next to nothing, I have a unique garland made from reclaimed cedar wood that Anthropologie is probably jealous of…or at least, I’d like to think so.
I’ll be sharing the tutorial on how to make the cute little blue, brown & red trees next week.

 

Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own Wooden Christmas Garland:
Chunks ‘o Wood (mine were about 9″ in diameter)
Rope (I used 1/2 twisted nylon rope-blue hawk is a pretty good brand from Lowe’s)
Palm Sander and 80+ grit Sandpaper
Your favorite color paint/spray paint
Hammer & nails (not pictured)
Stencils
Blue Tape

Let’s get started!

 

Lightly sand the wood, going with the grain if possible. I sanded mine just enough to not have burrs or splinters. I wanted my garland to be rustic.

 

Choose your saying. I went with “Peace”, but considered “Boink”, “Poop”, and “Elephant”. I really didn’t have enough wood to do the latter and was outvoted on the first two by my visiting mother-in-law.

Tape down the stencils with blue tape, adding scrap paper if needed to protect the rest of the wood.

 

Spray away! I went with two coats, just to be safe.

 

Remove the stencils. Stand back. Ooh and ahh until the neighbor gets curious. Then tell them to quit snooping, this is a top secret project.

 

I gave the wood a light coating with a Crystal Clear Enamel, but you don’t have to. You could also add a layer of polyurethane instead. Either acts as a protectant and gives the wood a little sheen.
The “P” has been sprayed with it in this picture, but not the “E”.

 

Spray paint your rope, if you so desire. I went with shiny, shiny gold. I like gold things-they’re kingly.

 

Once everything is dry, use your hammer and small nails to tack in the rope to the back of the wood. I used two nails per chunk of wood.

 

Hang your Wooden Christmas Garland where your little heart desires and enjoy.
Then call your neighbor to tell them you just finished your top secret project and you also have some warm cookies to share.
I bet they’ll be over in two shakes of a kitty’s tail.

Cutesy & Cheap Mod Curtains

My bay windows gladly invite the 100 degree temperatures into my sweaty office.
Although Cowboy loves to bask in the suns UV glory, I do not.
Searching for curtains and fabrics left me empty handed.
Nothing suited my fancy and my office was getting
unbearable by the second.
Something must be done!

I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands and create a ‘Rebekah original’.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your very own curtains:
A couple different colors of spray paint-I used gold, black & white
Wax Paper
Blue Tape
Scissors
Sharpie
Either sew your own or buy some cheap plain curtains (If found my thermal light blocking curtains at Target for $12 a piece. You can’t beat that!)

I decided to go with a tree theme for my curtains. Ripping my blue tape down the center, I began placing the tape on the fabric at my creative leisure. (Ripping the tape not only conserved the amount that I used, but also gave the trees a bark-like look.)
Only do one curtain at a time so that you can reuse your blue tape!

I wanted gold to be the dominate color on my curtains, so I sprayed the majority of the trees this color.
Let your spray paint dry.
Remove several pieces of your blue tape and create smaller trees next to and even on top of the original ones.

Spray your secondary colors on the smaller trees until you are satisfied with the look.
I used black and white to be my secondary colors.

Let’s add a little pizzaz to the whole tree motif, shall we? Using your wax paper and your sharpie, create a design that suits your fancy.
I liked the simplicity of these little birds and made two different size ‘tweeters’ just to be crazy.

Tape your wax paper onto your fabric and spray paint whatever color you desire.
I used all three of my colors for these little birdies-gold, black and white.
There is no right or wrong way to do this. I did each of my three curtains completely different and loved them all the same.

Here’s the final product after letting the curtains dry. Although, my office still faintly smells of spray paint…
Maybe that’s why I am so loopy.
Maybe.