Season 6 Final Round!

It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the end of season 6! All of the contestants were amazing and it has been an honor to have them join us. It’s our last round of voting. This week’s theme is Christmas and the three finalists did not let us down! They are all fabulous projects! It’s going to be tough to choose a winner.

Voting is at the end of this post…..

Number 1: Santa Stops Here: Street Address Sign

I’m so excited to have made it to the final three! What a fun contest it has been, thank you to everyone who has voted! Now, to get in gear for Christmas.

Every kid wants to be sure Santa doesn’t miss their home on Christmas Eve!

Here’s a cute, inexpensive, easy, and completely unique sign to let Santa know exactly where you are.

Here’s how to make your own.

• Gather supplies. I cut a piece of scrap wood for the sign part, and purchased an inexpensive spindle and a finial from Home Depot. I attached these to each other with screws. I also purchased precut wooden numbers from JoAnn’s. If you don’t have scrap wood for the sign, you can purchase precut pieces in a variety of sizes a shapes at your local craft shop.
• Using leftover Krylon spray paint, I painted the entire sign red. Once that was dry, I painted out more detailed parts in white.

• Next, I used paint pens to add even smaller details. Green polka dots on the top finial and a wavy line border around the sign. A red pen to write the words "Santa Stops Here". I used a small flat brush with red craft paint to paint the candy-cane stripe border.
• Using green craft paint, I painted my pre-cut numbers. I attached them to the sign with Elmer's wood glue.
• For good measure, and because I knew I’d be putting the sign outside, I added a coat of Minwax Polycrylic clear sealer.
• For the final touch, I added a store bought red bow (because I’m terrible at tying cute bows).

I staked my sign directly into the ground, but you could also stake it into a flower pot leftover from Summer to add a bit of whimsy and height.

Merry Christmas!

Number 2: Snowball Tree Skirt

Christmas is such a broad theme. This was the only week I didn't know what I was going to do. After much thinking and sleeping- I get my best ideas when I am sleeping, I came up with the snowball tree skirt!

I bought a white dollar store tree skirt and used the back. My mom used to decorate for weddings, and had yards and yards of tulle left over. I cut the tulle into 3 inch wide strips, rolled them into rosettes, and sewed across them. I continued to do this, until I had a few long chains of rosettes. Then I took the chains of rosettes, and hot glued them to the back of tree skirt.

After I had sewed on all the rosettes, I used Krylon's Glitter Blast to glitterize it!

To finish it off, I put white Christmas lights underneath it. I love the soft, snowy glow!

Number 3: Block Nativity

First off, congratulations to the other two ladies in the finales!

It has been so fun getting to know you both over this past month,

& it's an honor to be here in the finales with you!

{I still want to pinch myself...I can't believe I'm here! Yay!}

Originally when I saw the schedule & saw that Week 4 was Christmas

my first thought was: "Whew! That will be easy!"

Buuuut it turned out to be the hardest week for me

because, if you are like me, you've got

TONS of Christmas ideas & projects in the works

& it was super hard to decide on THE ONE I'd like to share!

I ended up deciding on my {handmade} Nativity!

It was super easy & best of all, didn't cost me a thing! Wahoo!

You gotta love that around Christmas time!

I just used scraps of wood from our shed,

and a few craft supplies that I already had on hand! :)

I'll share more of the "how to" on my blog on Friday.

I'll let you know all the sizes that my wood was cut,

& I've got a TON more pictures to share, too.

It was so hard narrowing it down to just these pictures!

Here's the {easy} tutorial on how I painted my blocks.

To make each piece:

I just got my block of wood.

Painted the face of it a creamy white. Let it dry.

I used vinyl nativity pieces as stencils. I cut these using my vinyl cutter & software.

I applied my vinyl to my block of wood & then painted over it.

It took about 2-3 coats of paint depending on the color I was using.

Then I let it dry completely & then carefully removed the vinyl.

Touched up any areas the paint might of bled through with a fine tipped paint brush.

Sanded the edges with sand paper to give my blocks a worn appearance.

Then I went over the entire block with some light wood stain.

I removed any excess stain with a rag. That was it! Super easy!

It would be an honor to have YOU vote for me!

Thank you to all the ladies from OMTWI & to all of YOU for making this such a fun experience!

Good luck, everyone!