Easter Blessings

I'm back sooner than I thought I would be for two reasons: 1. We had more rain last night and probably a bit more soon so raking wet leaves is way more difficult than waiting for them to dry and 2. I just really love this project and couldn't wait to share it with you.

Except for the cross which I picked up in Walmart the other day-not sure how much it cost but it couldn't have been much-I had all of the other supplies on hand.

I didn't have anything that I could use as a background so I decided to make a pallet from the large paint sticks. I could have used pieces of old fencing but for some reason, I wanted this to be a bit "cleaner". I will say that I learned that all paint sticks are not created equal. Lol I only had 7 of the ones I purchased and needed 8 so I grabbed one I got at Lowes the last time I bought a large can of paint. It was a bit shorter and thinner than the others but even all of the others weren't exactly the same so I taped them off making sure the bottoms were even and cut them as one bundle. I love it when I can get my old friend the miter saw out. In fact, I haven't put it away just yet as I'm hoping I come up with another fun idea where it might be needed soon.

 Then I used my large craft sticks to put it together and painted it with a Waverly celery green chalk paint. When the paint was dry, I gave it just a light touch of distressing around the edges and down each seam of the pallet. I liked the "shiplap" look that gave but kept it very subtle.

 Then I painted the cross. I used Waverly "plaster" chalk paint on the back piece and "mineral on the top layer. I also gave all of these edges just a light hint of distressing ink when it was all dry.

Because I wanted the cross to have a bit more presence and pop, I wrapped the pallet with twine before gluing on the cross.

Then I used another craft stick, cut it down a bit, painted it with mineral and added the Easter phrase that I printed out on my computer. That is not the script I would have chosen but, after so many years of not doing any composing like this, I honestly forgot how I went about getting all of the fancy fonts that I have somewhere from my days of scrapbooking. I almost tried it in long hand but decided I could live with this and so it is. Lol I wanted to add the flowers but felt like I had to keep them relatively small so I didn't lose the parts of the cross. I kind of just went around the house and snipped off small pieces of sprays that I have and then added just a few of the flowers that I have from Paper Studio. I like the soft hint of color that they add.

This is where I propped it for the picture but I actually think I like it there so it will stay...at least for now.

So that's all I have for now. Off to do a few little things before I settle in to watch grandson #1's college lacrosse game this afternoon. Stay safe and stay tuned.