Making MERRY

Happy Monday.  We had another action-packed/fun-filled week-end.  Jordan and Mr. Spring had a romantic get-away in Quebec City, and Mr. Right and I entertained friends from London.  They are the couple that we hiked the Cotswolds with back in the fall.  We have quite a history together.  The four of us took in a play, stayed a night in an historic inn, went to a party, out to dinner, visited a museum, and visited some of Mr. Right’s businesses.  We had some more plans, but Mother Nature and her snow got in the way.  That’s okay, though.

When Jordan was here over Thanksgiving, we stopped in to browse in Anthopologie.  They had the cutest cardboard  letters in faux zinc and plaid that spelled the word “MERRY.”  I loved them immediately for two reasons.  One, because they were so cute and two, because I knew I could make them.

I bought some cardboard letters and metallic paint at Hobby Lobby and got some plaid paper wrapping paper at another store.  Luckily, I had everything else on hand.

First, I painted all of the letters with black acrylic paint.

While it dried, I traced an outline of the “M” on the wrong side of the wrapping paper, and then I cut it out.

Next, I applied Modge Podge to the “M”.

Then I pressed the cut-out paper to it.  I realized quickly that it wasn’t going to be perfect, but neither was the one in Anthro.  So, I decided to go with it, and celebrate the imperfection.

I grabbed two different wrapping papers from my bin and cut them out in haphazard shapes.  Then I glued them on.

Then I glued on a border of red and white twine using a glue gun.

Here’s a close-up of the three wrapping papers and the twine.  They are all in the same color family, and they play really well together.

To finish up the project, I painted the metallic paint over the black using a sponge brush.  It took only a few minutes for the paints to dry and a little longer for the decoupaged letter to dry.

This is the same technique Jordan and I used when we made the DINE sign for her dining room.  It’s important to let some of the black peek through so it really looks like zinc.

I am so glad I made some MERRY.  If fits in with the plaid/back woods theme I’m going for this year, and it ties in with our December article we wrote for Houzz.  You can read it here.  So, how about you all.  Are you making MERRY????

Take care.

Linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and DIY by Design