Christmas is just around the corner and I am in full festive mood making preparations for the holiday season. I love decorating my house both inside and out and the whole of the downstairs gets decorations added on shelves and tables, windowsills and walls and in every room! Over the years I have made several pieces of artwork as seasonal home décor, this project is going to add to my collection.

Items Needed:

• Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint 2oz - Whisper (ADC03-30)
• DecoArt Media Mediums and Specialty Products - Modeling Paste - White (DMM21-71)
• DecoArt Media Mediums and Specialty Products - Gesso - White (DMM18-71)
• DecoArt Media Mediums and Specialty Products - Crackle Glaze - Clear (DMM16-71)
• Snow-Tex 4oz - Snow-Tex (DAS9-4)
• Die-cuts
• Resin Santa
• Deer And Doll
• Bottlebrush Trees
• Paper Dolls
• Natural Elements
• Frames
• Embellishments

Instructions:

I bought 3 frames from a well know Swedish store and changed the backboards around to make the best use of the depth for a shadowbox effect.

To start me off I gathered the mainstay of embellishments I wanted in the shadowbox, die-cuts, resin Santa and doll, paper dolls and bottle brush trees. The deer, snowflakes and natural elements came at the end when I was assembling the frames … my mantra is “The beauty is in the detail."

Step 1: Take some card for the background, give it a coat of white Gesso, heat dry and then apply a coat of Matte Decou-Page sealer. This acts as a resist and lets the next steps watery paint layers move about more freely on the substrate.

Dip the card in some watery DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics in Prussian Blue wash, spritz with a little water and heat dry. Repeat this step several times to cover the card and to get overlays of the colour. Also, repeat with a watery wash of Burnt Umber and heat dry.

Step 2: Mix a little Prussian Blue and some Titan Buff with a little water to get a more opaque and thicker wash and dip and dry again. This time one dip might just do it.

Step 3: Now mix the Prussian Blue with Titanium White and water to get another thicker wash and dip and dry again. This should be lighter in colour than the previous step.

Step 4: Apply Chalky Finish in Whisper through a stencil. I tried using a household sponge…..

…. and a blending tool and blending foam.

Both give different results and I like them both. You might have your own preference with it.

Step 5: Mix some Soft Touch Varnish with a tiny amount of Paynes Grey and Burnt Umber paints and add some water to make it more a wash of varnish than a thick coat. This will take the starkness of colour off of the Chalky Finish paint and seal the background at the same time.

Step 6: Now take the tree die-cuts. Stipple a coat of Sap Green, Phthalo Green-Blue, Hansa Yellow Medium and Titan Buff blending them on the card to get variations of colours. Heat dry and then give them some washes of Raw Umber and burnt umber before stippling a little Titanium White randomly over the top to look like snow. Then give them a dusting of glitter.

Step 7: Take the bottlebrush trees. With a paintbrush drip watery washes of the green paints, we have already used into the branches, heat dry and then gently brush over some white Gesso with a stiff paintbrush.

Step 8: Give the sleigh some washes of Cadmium Red and Quinacridone Magenta. Heat dry. Splatter with White and dry again before giving a wash of Magenta mixed with Burnt Umber. Again dust with glitter and add some Snow-Tex to the top of the sleigh and runners.

Step 9: Paint Santa and the little girl with the media acrylic paints and let dry. Give a very light wash of Raw Umber so that it settles in some of the cracks and heat dry carefully. Be gentle with the heat gun as these are resin models and will become moldable if made too hot. Give them a dusting of glitter to make them look frosty.

Step 10: Finger rub lightly with white gesso - rather like dry brushing and then finger paint light washes of Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Hansa Yellow Medium and Silver before adding Titanium White for the snow and add a dusting of glitter.

Step 11: Take the frames and with a palette knife and white Modeling Paste create a little texture, I paid particular attention to the corners as they had been stapled and I didn’t want them to show. When it’s dry paint over a coat of gesso and again when dry paint a coat of clear Crackle Glaze. Use Antiquing Cream to enhance the crackles when it’s dry and finish with a coat of varnish.

Step 12: Now assemble the box frames and add embellishments to complete the look to your satisfaction.

I hope you have fun with all your preparations for Christmas especially if you enjoy making your own seasonal pieces of home décor.

I know that all of you in the US will be celebrating Thanksgiving today, it’s not a national day for us here in the UK but schools and churches have services and give thanks for the Harvest in the autumn. It’s still an important time of year for us.

Enjoy your celebrations as you gather family and friends together to give thanks for all the blessings of the harvest and the preceding year.

Hugs,
Brenda xxx