Noel

On this Christmas Eve Eve, I was off work and it was so nice. After a visit to Michael's, I completed two crafts I discovered via the blog world. The first craft was NOEL artwork and the second craft was an ornament tree. The NOEL artwork was inspired by a pricey Pottery Barn piece and was knocked off on the The Steen Style, Frugal with a Flourish, and Thrifty Decor Chick. The ornament tree was also on The Steen Style and Frugal with a Flourish.

Here's the Pottery Barn NOEL:

Here's my NOEL:

The letters are white primed mdf that I spray painted with an oil rubbed bronze spray paint, but it really just looks like I used black spray paint. Not exactly the color I was going for but it looks fine. The background is paintable textured wall covering from Home Depot. I used spray adhesive to attach the wall covering to a cardboard backing. I painted the wall covering background with paints that I already had on hand. The first layer was creme paint I had from my kitchen remodel and the second layer is a glaze made from acrylic burnt umber craft paint that was diluted by a little bit of water. The glaze was painted on and immediately wiped off with a t-shirt. I put the finished back ground in a half priced Michael's frame and then hot glued the letters into place.

I'm really pleased with the outcome of the NOEL artwork. Now the ornament tree is a different story. I have no idea how to glue the ornaments onto the styrofoam cone without numerous gaps with styrofoam showing through. And it took way longer than I would like to admit. Needless to say, I don't love it.

Here's Frugal with a Flourish's ornament tree:

Here's my ornament tree:

It is made using a styrofoam cone, mini ornament balls, and hot glue. I got my ornaments at Dollar General. One package of 15 was $0.50 (they were half off). You can see pictured below that I bought several sizes of cones thinking I would make several ornament trees to group together, but after finishing one, I bagged the rest up and will be returning them to Michael's tomorrow. I don't even want to tackle another one. :/

Since I won't be making any more ornament trees, I have A LOT of mini ornament balls leftover, but I've already found a new purpose for them. Glass vase/jar filler!