Woodsies(TM) Believe Sign

Okay, I'll admit it.

I'm a little obsessed with

Believe signs this year.  I've made

about three dozen.  Or so.

This one is super easy!!!

For each Believe sign,

you'll need one Woodsies(TM) wood slat,

acrylic paints in red, white, and two shades of

green ... and Extreme Glitter in Red.

A Crop-o-Dile or hand drill to

make holes in the corners of the sign for

hanging; craft wire for hanging,

and jingle bells or snowflake buttons

to accent the craft wire.

Base coat the wood slat with red.

Don't forget to paint the back and the sides.

I used a paint roller, because I made

twelve of these.

Paint the fronts of the slats with

Extreme Glitter in Red for extra glitz.

I taped off the top of each slat

with painters tape, and used a paintbrush

and green paint to make a stripe.

You could skip this step.

I wrote the word Believe on tracing paper

and transferred the word to each wood slat with

light colored transfer paper.

Use white acrylic paint and a round brush

to go over your pattern lines.

I decided to dot the "i" in Believe

with a sprig of holly leaves and berries.

I made a tiny pattern and transferred

the design directly over the "i"

Paint the holly leaves green.

Use a lighter shade of green

and a liner brush to outline the leaves.

Make holes in the top corners of the sign and

thread the wire through for hanging.

Before threading the wire through the

second hole, thread on jingle bells or snowflake

buttons for accents.  Then thread the

loose end of the wire through the second

hole and twist to secure.

Dot holly berries with bright red paint. 

Dot berries with white paint.

Coat sign with Multi-Purpose(TM) Sealer.

I didn't have my camera in my studio the day

I finished these signs, so I took

a pic with my phone.  I LOVE the way this looks!

It's my profile pic on fb and it's my

screensaver.  It makes me happy!!!

Use a black permanent marker to outline

the sign and the holly leaves.

Peace Out!!!

Balsa Board Santa

Balsa Board Santa

(not to be confused with "Bored" Santa)

This guy is really not hard to make at all,
and he looks equally smashing
hanging on the wall, adorning a wreath,
or my own personal favorite -
smooshed into the tree.


I love to hang over-sized ornaments!
This Santa is made from balsa wood so he
is practically weightless.  Seriously.

 I started with a Midwest Products
balsa wood board, and used my Midwest
Products Easy Cutter Ultimate
to cut the board in half.

Base coat the 18" board with
white acrylic paint.

I made a pattern for the mustache
by tracing around my board
on a piece of tracing paper, and then
adding a hat brim and a mustache.


Please ignore the hat brim pattern!
Initially I planned to make the hat brim and
the mustache out of paper clay,
but then I had a better idea ... the No-Sew Hat!

I honestly don't know what happened here.

Why don't I have how-to photos of the mustache?

Maybe my hands were covered in clay,
maybe I was focused on the outcome,
maybe I just "forgot" to take pics.
So sad.

I can tell you how I did this,
and you can take my word for it.
Next time I work with paper clay,
I'll make sure my photographer is handy
for the step-by-step shots.
(sorry!)

I put down waxed paper to work on.

I pinched off a piece of paper clay,
wet my fingers, and patted it nice and flat.

Then I placed my tracing paper mustache pattern
over the flattened clay, and outlined the
mustache with a paintbrush handle;
this left the indentation of the mustache in the clay.

I cut the mustache out with a palette knife,
smoothed up the edges with wet fingers,
and pressed a swirly-design rubber stamp
into the wet clay.

 Allow the mustache to dry thoroughly.

(Note: it will have to dry about one day
before you can glue it on)

Next, attach a 1/2" wood button plug
to the top center of the board.


Paint the top 4" or so of the board flesh.
Use pink powder blush and your finger to swirl
rosy cheeks and a pink accent to his nose.


Dip a brush handle into white paint
for the eyes.

I made a quick pattern of some holly leaves
and added swirls to the beard
with a liner brush and medium green paint.

 I shaded the holly leaves with
dark green paint and added highlights
and more curly-cue swirls with gold paint.

I also added gold dip dots along the swirls.
Dip a larger paint brush handle into
red paint and add holly berries.
Allow paint to dry thoroughly.

I used a sanding block to lightly
sand the entire beard, and to heavily
sand the edges of the board.

Next, attach the dried mustache to the
board with Aleene's Tacky Glue.

Add smaller dots of black to the eyes.


I decided to make a simple,
no-sew hat for Santa.

Starting with a 9"x12" piece of wool felt,
I cut it in half diagonally.
Then I folded the larger portion into a
long thin triangle.

Cut off the lower "extraneous" portion
of the triangle hat.

Starting at the pointy tip,
use a hot glue gun to glue the triangle
into a cone-hat shape.

Once the seams are glued together,
shift the hat around until the seam is in the back.
Then roll up the edge of the hat
for a brim, and secure with the glue gun.

Attach the hat to Santa's head.

At this point I decided to add some contrasting
ribbon trim to the hat brim.

This cotton ribbon is fun, and I love the
red and white, but I didn't like it on the hat.

I love the homespun look, but this look
isn't right for this particular Santa hat.

I love this ribbon!
I reach for it all the time, but I haven't
found the perfect project for it yet.

Now we're talking!
As soon as I held this ribbon up to the hat,
I knew it was the right look for this Santa.

A little sparkle on the edges,
and a green holly print that helps pull
in the holly I've painted on the beard.

Attach the ribbon trim to the hat with glue.
I love this pointy hat!  But I decided
to turn it into a floppy hat ...

... so I pulled the hat down in the back
and glued it to the back.

Then I attached a glittery jingle bell
to the pointy tip of the hat.

Thoroughly coat the mustache and beard
with Plaid's Extreme Glitter in Hologram ...
and seal the face with the Multi-Purpose sealer.

All finished!
Here's a pic of the one I painted
last year ... 

I cut the corners of the board with the
Easy Cutter Ultimate
(top and bottom)
painted a glittery red hat and
used the paper clay for the hat brim
as well as the mustache.

It needed "something" more, so I used
my Crop-o-Dile to punch a hole
in the top right corner of the hat,
and I put a Christmas poke through the
hole, bending the back of the pick and glueing
it in place.


Peace and Santa Claus

Wood Slat Scarecrow

I thought I'd share this fun scarecrow!

He's really simple to make,

and he looks great tucked into a Fall

wreath ... or make several

and turn them into a one-of-a-kind

Scarecrow Wreath!!

(Check back soon for pics of my

Scarecrow Wreath, along

with simple assembly instructions)

Gather these items to make one

Wood Slat Scarecrow:

Loew-Cornell(TM) Woodsies(TM) Wood Slat,

(sold in packages of six)

Woodsies(TM) Craft Stick,

Woodsies(TM) Jumbo Craft Stick,

hatch-mark background stamp,

acrylic paints: antique gold, antique white,

black, white, jack-o-lantern orange,

honey brown, Sparkle Glaze,
Multi-Purpose Sealer

sponge roller, 1" wash brush,
1/2" flat brush, script liner brush

brown ink pad, scrap of ribbon,

glue gun and glue sticks

pink powder blush and sponge dauber

12" length of jute for hanging,

Crop-o-Dile, hand drill, drill press, or

hubby for drilling holes
permanent black marker

 Use sponge roller to base coat

top half of wood slat antique gold;

also paint the craft stick

antique gold.

Attach hat brim with glue gun,

then base coat the bottom half of

the wood slat antique white.

Actually, what this pic shows, is

that after I painted the top halves of

the wood slats, I poured some

antique white onto my palette and rolled

the lighter color onto the bottom

halves of the wood slats.  Since it wasn't

enough contrast, I loaded my 1" wash brush with

antique white and repainted the bottom.

Ummm ... you could do this too,

or you could just skip that step.

Whichever!

Don't forget to paint the backs

and the sides of each slat!

Okay ... I found this background stamp

a few years ago.  It makes the absolute

"perfect" cross-hatch pattern on my

straw hats and burlap texture on my

scarecrow faces.  I love it!!

 Here's a pic of the top of the stamp.

(and the stamp pad I used)

Rub the stamp pad over the stamp,

and stamp the craft stick (hat brim) 

and the top half of the scarecrow (hat)

*and* I like to stamp the bottom half (the face)

separately.  No real reason.

Just because. 

Next, shade around the edges

of the rectangles and the top half of

the craft stick.

Dip a 1/2" wash brush into water,

then dip one corner into a small puddle of

honey brown paint.

Drag the brush back and forth

on the palette to distribute the paint

gradually ...

Secure the hat brim to the hat

with the glue gun.

Blush cheeks with sponge dauber

and pink powder blush. 

Use a stylus or the end of a paintbrush handle

to dot the eyes.

Thin black paint with water to an inky

consistency, and use the liner

brush to paint a mouth on the scarecrow.

Use the liner brush and jack-o-lantern orange

to add a triangle nose to the scarecrow.

Here's how to make the cute black crow

poking up out of the hat brim:

Paint the jumbo craft stick

black.  Don't forget to paint the sides.

Use the sanding block to

sand around the edges of the craft stick.

Then trim off the end of the craft stick.

I like to use my

 Midwest Products Hobby & Craft Easy Cutter Ultimate

Dip dot the eyes with white paint.

Add smaller black dots over the white dots.

This photo (above) shows step-by-step

how to paint the beak with antique gold

and a script liner brush.

When completely dry,

brush on a coat of Sparkle Glaze.

Secure the crow to the hat

with the glue gun.

Make two holes in the top corners

of the slat scarecrow.

Thread one end of the jute through

the hole and knot the ends.

Thread the other end of the jute through

the second hole, creating a hanger.

Tie a knot with the ribbon scrap

and attach to the crow's neck.

Use the permanent black marker
to outline the hat, hat brim, and face.
Outline the crow's beak.


Use thinned black paint
to make eyebrows and stitch marks
on the nose and mouth.

There you go!!!

Up next, I'll share some pics

and quick instructions for making

a wreath from these

Wood Slat Scarecrows!

* Peace and Scarecrows *