A while ago, I showed you my little chipboard letter art project…
Clearly intoxicated by the enticing craft store environment, I unknowingly bought a set of two canvasses for that project instead of one, and I still had more chipboard letters left, so I was practically required to make another version of this, right? REQUIRED.
Here’s my Christmasy take on it:
I slathered a bunch of blue and black acrylic paint on the canvas first, then found this little wooden nativity ornament from Joann for like 80 cents…
It originally had a little star shape coming out of the top, so we snipped that off, then flipped it over to the other side and spray-painted it white. I attached it to the canvas with hot glue, because that’s extra artsy and legit.
I set my letters on the canvas to get an idea of placement, but before I stuck them on, I handwrote the “adore” with a metallic paint pen.
Dear metallic paint pen: where have you been all my life? Now that I’ve drawn with one, I’m constantly on the lookout for surfaces that need metallic writing. Crafts, gift wrap, small children.
The chipboard letters were white to start with, and maybe that seemed too stark against the navy background – or maybe I just had a metallic paint pen addiction – but I painted them silver too, then stuck ’em on.
And that’s it! I hung it on this little wall between the kitchen and living room, and I’ve enjoyed having the daily reminder about tiny infant Jesus, about reverence for that moment when he split history in two and stepped out of heaven to become Savior of the world – God in man.
Unnecessary story: If you ask Weston what Christmas is all about, he says, “Widdle baby JESUS!” Then you ask him, “What about Jesus?” He says, “Born in a manger! Wif MEWWY.” (With Mary). It’s kind of adorable.
But if you get cocky, you might start to think “We are incredible parents. We’re knocking this parenting thing out of the park,” so you might ask him, “Who is the Savior of the world?” If you ask him that, he’ll say: “Baby sister!” Clearly we still have some work to do. Also need to work on setting expectations about exactly how awesome his little sister will be.
Unnecessary photo to accompany unnecessary story:
That’s all.
P.S.: I made a new version of this! Check it out here.
P.P.S.: Check out these other holiday craft ideas!
- DIY kissing ball with fresh greenery (Costs almost nothing!)
- Easy glittery snowballs
- Make a monogram wreath
Hi, I'm Kelly. Glad you're here! This little blog is where I chronicle our efforts to fix up our beaten-down home on a tiny budget. We're not there yet, but here's a peek at the view along the way...
Kelly,
That painting/chipboard creation is fabulous! I need to make one for the back hallway!!!!! Your story is absolutely adorable! Glad he know the pecking order at home! LOL!!!!!
I love it! So pretty and simple. Beautiful!
You have gorgeous handwriting – I love it! 🙂
Plus – never underestimate the potential amazingness of your forthcoming daughter. She does come from a pretty stellar set of parents 😉
Merry Christmas!!!
This is so great! I seriously love everything .. it’s perfect for Christmas, plus a little mod. Good job! 🙂
Oooh pretty! I love the colors. And using the nativity ornament that way is pretty darn genius. I’ll never look at that endless aisle of wood trinkets the same way. 🙂
Adorable. The art. The kid. The parenting.
Omg, the photo of your son is adorable. Your artwork is pretty amazing too. You are one creative lady.
Kelly, your creativity always amazes me! Your picture is beautiful and I just love the look of concentration on your baby boy’s face!
Wow!! I would NEVER think of doing something like this – it turned out so beautiful! I love it!
Love it, all of it! The unnecessary picture turned out great! I’ll have to try it again next year.
I love this! It looks perfect in your house and I am laughing over the metallic pen! I felt the same way when chalk pens came into my life!
Happy Holidays!
Tiffany
Fabulous projects! I love how you stick the letters and paint over the letter for a 3D effect in the first artwork, very nice!
I adore your son’s answer! He is so cute. I always love hearing kids answer questions. They have the best answers! 🙂
Wishing you and your family a warm and joyous Christmas!
Jessie
http://www.mixandchic.com
This is just precious! I love how you kept it simple, yet beautiful!
Fabulous! Absolutely adorable. All of it.
I love love love the come let us adore him piece. and the little guy with the lights shot is so precious I’d love it if you’d add this to my link party over at http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/search/label/WWWMW
Simple craft idea, simply put, what else is there to say…Kathi
Adorable! I love your project- beautiful! And I love that your son knows The Son. Awesome. My son is 7 1/2 months old and I can’t wait till he can talk to me. 🙂
Would love it if you’d come over and share some of your projects at Wild Wednesdays at my place! 🙂
I absolutely love this! What a wonderful message and creation!
Did you know this got pinned on pinterest? I saw it, and I thought, “HEY! Kelly made that!” 🙂
Don’t you love when things just come together so beautifully? I love this!
Cant wait to try this. It is gorgeous. Thanks for the idea!
I found you on Pinterest. This post is hilarious and I love this project . I will be stealing it, um I mean borrowing it and giving you credit! 🙂 . LOVE!
I love this! I love your writing too. You are funny & humble & real. I am so glad I found you through a pin on Pinterest.
Blessings!
Janiene
Hi, I love the come let us adore him canvas, I really want to make one, but have a few questions. What size canvas did you use? Did you put black paint all over and then the navy, it looks like the navy is kind of through the middle, love the effect just wanted to know how you got it. Also the star, was this done with the metallic paint pen also? If you could answer these for me that would be great I would really appreciate it! I think that it is just beautiful, Sincerely, Haley Wietharn
Thanks! I think my canvas is about 18 inches by 24 inches, but that’s just a guess. Of course you could do this on any size canvas! I mixed some dark blue paint with black and covered the whole thing, then went back over the middle with some lighter blue. The star is just made with white paint that has a tiny bit of yellow mixed in. I hope it works well for you! Have fun!
I’ll piggy-back on this question, I’ve had trouble finding the letters. May I ask where you purchased the chipboard letters? Michaels only had a very ugly font.
I think I got mine at Joann, but I’ve also seen some at Walmart.
Don’t you just love Pinterest? What a wonderful reminder for the Christmas season. And I love the pic of your son. Will have to try that with my daughter this year!
I love this and might try to make one on my own, but I am not very crafty. This picture is all over pinterest, I bet you would sell out instantly if you ever sold these on etsy! 😉
Seriously, did you start an Etsy store for this yet? Will you just make me one? Name the price! Love it!!
Pretty project and your son is just precious:) Thanks for sharing.
Kelly, you rock! Love your creativity but REALLY love your focus! Jesus..the reason for the season as they say! Adorable picture of your cutie too! Thanks!
i seriously suck at putting things together. i would pay you to make this for me. lol! i just LOVE this!!
I loved this and made one for my home! Thanks for your beautiful idea. What paint pen did you use? I used the Elmer’s Painters Metallic Paint Marker and it is AWFUL (mine was fine tip). The first time I used it it was working fine, the tip was absorbing the paint like it should. But an hour later I actually went to make another one for a friend, and the paint just poured out in globs from the opening. I guess the tip couldn’t absorb the paint anymore. Can you recommend the pen you used?
Those bonus things re your son were TOTally necessary. We all got a laugh and oh! How precious!
And. If you love the metallic marker. PLEASE step away from the metallic gel pens. Do not buy a single Uniball Signo from jetpens. Stay away from jetpens entirely. Holy moley I have enough to measure in them in pounds. I’m not addicted though. I can stop at any time.
I just want you to know I just made your beautiful Christmas art myself. And I love it! Thank you for this great idea!
Hahaha! Kelly…..I love you. The end. 😉
This is a great piece of art and thank you, thank you, thank you for linking up that cute kiddo and this post to the Kids and Christmas Link Party! Merry Christmas to you and your sweet family and God Bless!
Thanks so much for sharing this! I created my own version and posted it on my blog. Love how it came out – thanks for the inspiration!
http://ruffleandcurl.blogspot.com/2013/01/christmas-canvas-decor-diy.html
Loved everything you did, but my most favorite was the “unnecessary” picture ~ that should be framed and hung every single Christmas!! Love love loved it!
So, this is only the second entry that I have read on your blog (I just found you on Pinterest)… but I just have to say- I love your sense of humor. I have no idea what you actually sound like, but if your stories drip with such sarcasm in real life, like the way I’m reading them… I think we would be friends 🙂 It cracks me up. But even if I’m wrong, I like what I’ve seen so far… so I’ll be looking around some more. Thanks!
If you’re reading it as dripping with sarcasm, you’ve got it exactly right! 🙂 Thanks so much!
Hey Kelly, I just did my own version of your lovely piece and wanted you to see it!
Thanks for the inspiration 🙂