If you told me last week I’d be blogging about an art project created by moi, I would have snickered. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, crafty (neither in the conniving sense, nor like a sweet, old lady with knitting needles)

But when you combine the need to make your fireplace mantle look Christmasy with the budget of ‘free,’ you might end up giving Picasso a run for his money.

Okay, fine, you can go ahead and get the “yeah, right!” out of your system now.

But since this is my blog, I hold all publishing and bragging rights.

My project ‘evolved’ – it was not what I’d originally intended to do. But I hear that’s the modus operandi of other famous artists as well, so I’m in good company.

Incidentally, Hubbers thought the picture was store bought. Compared to the usual, “Who made this? You or the kids?” response, this was like winning the Academy Award for Set Decoration in a Major Motion Picture.

So, with that vote of confidence behind me, I’m here to share how to make my un-pinterested, original pièce-de-résistance.

Step 1: Turn over an already existing picture frame. You’ll be working with the back of the frame. Now would be a good time to peel the price tag off the painting you bought 7 years ago, you procrastinator, you.

Step 2: Get online and look for free printable stencils of the image you want.

I got mine over here:

https://www.all-about-stencils.com/images/christmasnoel.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/59/ea/b4/59eab41b57bd311959dc14193affaa97.jpg

Print out the pictures you want to use and cut them out carefully.

Step 3:Now it’s time to adhere the cut-outs  to the picture frame. Don’t glue them down or you’ll lose the 3D aspect of the picture.

It’s time to break out the Scotch.

Tape, that is.

Don’t use double-sided tape. Just go old school and stick the two ends of the tape together so you get a ring of sticky. That’s how us FOBs roll.

This makes your pop-outs actually pop.

 

Step 4: Find the gold spray paint you bought to spray your Thanksgiving pumpkins that are still languishing in your garage. Don’t worry about the pumpkins for now –  someone will throw them away. Eventually.

Spray away. Go wild, like you’re doing your hair for an 80s-themed party tonight.

That’s really all it takes to make an Academy Award-worthy Christmas art piece.

My outtakes:

My original idea was to peel off the stencil cut-outs to reveal the canvas beneath. That didn’t work as some of the paint made its way underneath my paper stencils. Now, I hear there are adhesives made specially for peeling off stencils, but I wanted to stay true to my FOB status of cheap and cheerful.

 

Also, you may notice the gold grit above the star – a direct result of lazy price-tag peeling.  I used the ‘Noel’ cut-out to cover it up. (I’m sure there’s a great metaphor in there somewhere.)

Initially, I’d stuck the star on with glue. When I tried to peel it off,  it came apart in tiny fragments. I quickly gave up that idea, filled the entire star with glue and then poured sugar on top of it for texture. Yeah, I know, when you can’t avoid sugar in your craft projects, you kinda have a problem on your hands.

 

 

For the uninitiated: FOB = Fresh off the Boat = Immigrants like Yours Truly 🙂