Decorating for Christmas - Fireplace

Well I am finally getting around to doing some decorating for Christmas.  First I am starting with our fireplace mantel - it is the most visible spot in our living room and a focal point of the room.  For those of you that are crafty I thought you might enjoy this paint and paper project.

I really enjoyed making my Halloween Sign for the mantel last month so I headed back out to the wood pile to look for more 2 x 4 remnants.  I was inspired to make a wood block and paper sign after seeing a really cool "Faith" sign at Designer Flower Center.

First I had my daughter help me paint the sides of each block white.  Don't worry about the wood blocks being the same height - in fact several different heights makes the sign more interesting.  Next I found some really fun paper in shades of grey and whites at the craft store.  I cut out squares of paper and glued them to the blocks.  I also picked out heavier card stock that was white and covered in glitter for the letters.  Before gluing on the letters I painted on Mod Podge to help seal the paper tight to the wood.

The following day I glued each letter to a block.  I didn't use a template for these letters I just cut them out free-hand. We then stacked the word "Merry" on top of "Christmas" and voila a fun, inexpensive sign for our mantel.