And That's a Wrap!

 I must admit that I went back and forth on the frame for the Christmas hanger. I found the perfect round Santa image and got it to fit perfectly in the round frame but, in the end, I went with my gut feeling that the round frame just wouldn't have enough "oomph" on the stand. And I went with my last square frame.

It's hard to tell from that photo but, the picture is mostly a forest green and a deep red so that is where my mind went with colors-not to mention that we all know I am a bit of a "purist" and those are just my normal colors for Christmas decor. I wasn't sure which way to go but, in the end, I decided on green for the frame. I hardly had any of the correct green paint left in that jar and was just about to try to mix up some more with a more green green and some black when I realized I could make my life extra easy if I just watered it down a lot. I could kill two birds with one stone-I would have enough to cover the frame and I didn't think I would need to worry about the laser burn on the edges as the dark brown looks just fine with a "stain". And so, that is where I went.

Of course, once I was there I was questioning the lack of "red" until I thought about possibly backing the "empty" filagree with color. I didn't do that on any of the others and I was fine with that but this just seemed to call for something different. I could have just backed the image on a sheet of red card stock but I didn't think I had the right shade of red so I used my paint and created the border. If it didn't work, it would be easy to just cut if off.

But, much to my surprise, I really love the contrast!

Then it was just a simple matter of attaching the frame to the image, making a very simple rusty wire hanger and then backing the whole thing.

At this moment, I am thinking that as soon as I see any small holly with berry sprigs, I will probably add them to the top but, for some weird reason, I might also be OK just leaving this as is-again, no rush on that decision.

As I look closely at this, those wet glue spots are driving me crazy. If they don't dry clear, I will definitely touch them up. I am actually surprised that there aren't more because, just as I had all of the glue applied all over the back of the frame, my phone rang and it was a FaceTime call from my family in Italy. I was so excited to see them and look at the gorgeous views off of their terrace that I just quickly flipped the frame onto the image and let it go.

I will say, for occasions like that, I am so happy that I now have an iPhone and can do facetimes. They've been gone a week and have another yet to go-my oldest and youngest daughters and three of my grand children are back in Europe. They started in Italy and have had such incredible adventures already. Today they head to Switzerland for more fun and then into Lyon, France and then Paris. All of them except my grandson have been there numerous times so they know all of the "things" to do and see and the right ways to do and see them so my grandson is getting the adventure of his life. The girls try not to do the "touristy" things but more the things that appeal to the locals so he is getting a real taste of the countries. He was so excited when he talked to me because he could see the Alps from their Airbnb terrace! Lol I can't wait to visit with him after his return and get his perspective on Europe.

In any case, here I am.

I now have a hanger for each of my decor themes through the year...and I am kind of sad to have it end. I love projects like this and am always kind of down when I have them finished. I did the same with the burlap door hangers, the wood bead garlands, the book stacks and probably others that I'm not remembering. I actually think this has been my favorite. It was so much fun coming up with these and who would ever have thought that a frame that cost $1.25 from the $Tree would have made them all possible!

So that is it for today. I honestly don't have any new craft ideas lined up so I will probably find myself back scrolling through Pinterest pretty soon. I have TONS of stuff still to finish outside but, honestly, even my grand dog doesn't want to be out there in this heat. I was just out doing some weeding and he kept standing by the door to go in. I let him in but left the door open so he could join me if he changed his mind-which he didn't! He just laid down inside looking at me like I was the one who had lost my mind. Guess that long list of to-dos will just have to wait awhile longer. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.

My buddy keeping an eye on me as I was working on dinner last night.