Adding More Joy

This time of year I tend to get a little bit stressed.

I know that it's self inflicted but I just can't help myself.

Every year I state that I'm not going to do

much decorating, crafting and baking for Christmas,
and every year I fail big time.

I always have so many ideas running through
my head but just don't have enough time to
do everything I want.
Christmas time is supposed to be a joyful
time of year, not a stressful time.
For me, to create something is very relaxing
and brings me great joy.
As I was "decking the halls" for
Christmas I remembered that I wanted
to make a new sign to hang to add more joy.
This is what I came up with to add more joy to our Christmas home.

Using supplies I had on hand,

I started with an 18 inch round wooden disc that I picked up
at Home Depot a while back and never got around to creating
anything with it.

Next, I applied a coat of Dark Walnut stain to the front and sides.
No need to stain the back, you're not going to see it.

Next, using a cheap paint brush and acrylic craft paint, I roughly painted on my color.
I didn't try to cover the entire disc. I wanted some of the dark
stain to show through. I let this set overnight to dry completely before I did
any sanding to bring out more of the dark color.
This is not the true red color. The sun was really shining on this
when I took this picture.  The next photo is the true red color.

While I was waiting for the paint to dry I chose a font and created my word
and enlarging it to the size I wanted.
Using carbon paper and a ball point pen
I traced my design onto the dried wooden disc.

Once my design was traced I was ready to paint in my letters.

Using a small artist paint brush I roughly filled in my letters with
white acrylic craft paint. I knew that I didn't have to be careful because
I was going to give it a good sanding down again after the paint had dried.
I wanted my sign to have an old aged weathered look.

After I sanded it a second time, using a gold paint pen, I traced
around each of the letters to make them stand out more.
Then I applied a layer of wax to protect and seal it.

Now my sign was ready to be embellished.
I created a bow and then created the swag using
various branches I had on hand. I then attached
the 3 ornaments using a hot glue gun.
Hubby attached a hook on the top for me so
I could tie on my swag. He also attached a heavy duty
hanger on the back so I could hang it on the wall.

Here is a close up of the swag I created.

And that's how I de-stressed and added more joy to my life.

That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica