Meet Me Under The Mistletoe

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I used to never put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving. Day after Thanksgiving was fair game.  But never before Thanksgiving.

But never say never.... fast forward to present day. 

Every year Dustin goes on a hunting trip with a group of guys in November. A few years back I realized it was easier for Maddie and I to decorate while he was out of the house for multiple reasons. 

I think it began as a distraction when Maddie was little. Something to cheer her up and forget that Dad wasn't home.

Then it became a "if we decorate while he is gone he won't realize how many of those boxes in the basement are Christmas decorations."

From there it kind of became a little tradition for Maddie and I to do together. 

I also use the week he is gone to catch up on craft projects.... so needless to say during this week every year the house is an explosion of Christmas décor and crafting supplies.

 

Would you believe the two things listed above start out as the same thing? Think of the bottom as the before and the top as an after. Mind-blowing right?!

Let me introduce you once again to the reverse canvas sign (see other post here). One thing on my to do list was to make a reverse canvas sign. I had some thing specific in mind but that went out the door and in came Christmas décor ideas. 

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How To Make a Reverse Canvas

SUPPLIES I USED FOR THIS PROJECT:

• Canvas - (Here is the size I used on Amazon)
• Box Cutter
• Stain (On this project I used Special Walnut)
• Rag or Paint Brush for stain
• HTV Vinyl (I used Siser Easyweed)
• Vinyl Machine 
• Heat Press
• Hot Glue Gun

First you are going to want to detach your canvas from your wood frame. You can do this by pulling the staples out or you can use your box cutter to cut around the edges. 

Once you have the canvas detached set it aside for later and get to staining your wood frame. 

Now what to put on your canvas? I had seen a meet me under the mistletoe sign when out shopping and like all true crafters thought "Huh... I could make that."

I like to support other Etsy sellers so I searched Etsy first for an SVG file I liked. I didn't see one exactly like what I had in mind so I decided to use my own fonts for the text. I fell in love with perfectlypalmetto's cute mistletoe so I purchased their SVG file (can be found here) and added it to my text file. 

Moving along in Silhouette Design (or whatever software you prefer) create your file and cut your HTV vinyl. 

Next use your heatpress or iron to attach your HTV onto the canvas. If using a heatpress I set my temperature to 350 and pressed it for 40 seconds each layer

Once your vinyl is pressed onto the canvas it is time to attach the frame. I laid my canvas out with the frame on top to make sure it was centered where I wanted it. I then used a pencil to mark the edges just so I knew where to attach the frame. 

At this point you have two options: 1. use a staple gun to attach the canvas to the frame - 2. use a hot glue gun to attach the canvas to the frame

It was about 10 o'clock at night when I was wrapping up this project and the staple gun was at the barn. Being impatient and wanting to complete my project I went the hot glue gun route. 

Once your glue has dried use your box cutter to cut the excess canvas off. And viola! You now have a super cute Christmas sign!

Happy crafting! I'm sure I will have more crafts to share before the week is up. 

@meharper

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♬ Christmas song "Let's decorate" - 3KTrack