Genius. I love crafts, especially practical ones, and inviting over the girls for the holidays made it sound even better! Fast forward, like, five years, and I finally made it happen.
- Adhesive-backed vinyl cut to say "Season's Greetings" or whatever you like (I cut ours on my Silhouette Cameo, but you can also custom order them on Etsy!). I also added family names for a little surprise since I accidentally bought boards that were 7" wide instead of the intended 5" and we had some extra space.
The best part was that with 12 women and access to the same materials, no two boards looked the same! Natalie and Kelsey stained their boards and later added hooks to hang little flip books of Christmas cards from years past. Erin painted Christmas trees on hers and hung it up as a sign above her kitchen sink instead of adding ribbons. The possibilities are endless!
A few friends have been asking for the directions on how to make these, but the original link isn't working anymore! So I'm rewriting the directions here, changing a few things according to how we ended up doing it. Here's our version:
Cute, right? Each mama brought $10 to chip in for supplies (okay, okay, I went a little overboard and spent closer to $16 per person - oops!). Add in some spiked hot apple cider and a few snacks and we had ourselves a little party! Directions for the group are below. I tried to add links to the items where I could so you could see what I was talking about (no affiliate links here; I'm not that fancy yet!). Happy crafting!
Materials for each board:
- 24"x7" wooden board (I got mine cut from common pine boards at Home Depot which came in 6', 8, 10' and 12' lengths, and a worker there cut them for me!). I sanded them down a bit on the edges since the cut left some splintery pieces hanging off.
- Adhesive-backed vinyl cut to say "Season's Greetings" or whatever you like (I cut ours on my Silhouette Cameo, but you can also custom order them on Etsy!). I also added family names for a little surprise since I accidentally bought boards that were 7" wide instead of the intended 5" and we had some extra space.
- Mini daubers (these little painting tools make perfect circles!)
- 2 eye hooks
- 18" of twine or strong string/ribbon
- 5 yards of ribbon
- Hot glue or tacky glue
- 20 mini clothespins
Instructions:
1. Paint the background color on your board. I had green, red, white, silver, and gold to choose from as well as a bunch of random colors from old crafts.
2. Eat, drink, and be merry! For about 20 minutes while you let the paint dry, at least ;)
3. Peel the backing off your vinyl and slap that sucker on the board. Give it a good swipe with the side of a credit card or your hand to help it stick, and then peel the transfer tape off. Tada!
4. Now comes the fun part. Decorate! I had us put the vinyl on before the decorating so that we didn't have to worry about placement afterwards. Most of us used these little dauber tools to stamp circles in different colors using the craft paint, based on our inspiration photo. Pro tip: load the daubers up with lots of paint to get pretty, smooth circles.
5. More waiting, more drinking, more merriment while you wait for that paint to dry! See? Fun!!
6. Screw the eye hooks into the top of the board, about 12" apart, and string the twine through them to create a hanger. I used my trusty drill to make a few holes first, but a few of the girls just screwed the eye hooks in bare-handed. I have some strong mama friends!
7. Pick out your ribbons and cut five pieces, about a yard each. Glue them to the back of the board so they hang down. Attach the mini clothespins to add your Christmas cards and you are good to go!
2. Eat, drink, and be merry! For about 20 minutes while you let the paint dry, at least ;)
3. Peel the backing off your vinyl and slap that sucker on the board. Give it a good swipe with the side of a credit card or your hand to help it stick, and then peel the transfer tape off. Tada!
4. Now comes the fun part. Decorate! I had us put the vinyl on before the decorating so that we didn't have to worry about placement afterwards. Most of us used these little dauber tools to stamp circles in different colors using the craft paint, based on our inspiration photo. Pro tip: load the daubers up with lots of paint to get pretty, smooth circles.
5. More waiting, more drinking, more merriment while you wait for that paint to dry! See? Fun!!
6. Screw the eye hooks into the top of the board, about 12" apart, and string the twine through them to create a hanger. I used my trusty drill to make a few holes first, but a few of the girls just screwed the eye hooks in bare-handed. I have some strong mama friends!
7. Pick out your ribbons and cut five pieces, about a yard each. Glue them to the back of the board so they hang down. Attach the mini clothespins to add your Christmas cards and you are good to go!
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