DIY Festivus: Mantle Sign

So it's finally December. Can you smell it in the air? Christmas lights are up, everyone is rushing to the mall, and coffee stores are featuring holiday-themed flavors. It's Festivus!

Some of the delicious brews at our favorite coffee shop

As you can guess from my lack of posts, we've been busy. Outside of our normal duties, we're also busy decorating our home in a full holiday fashion. This is the first time we get to decorate our new home for Festivus. I'm so excited!

But I  also wanted to share one decoration I made this year that literally cost just $4 and 20 minutes for me to make.

So here's what you need:
4 Frames (bought at the Dollar Store)
Holiday-themed background (I used scrap booking paper I had from a 2011 project)
A Pencil
A Permanent Marker

It doesn't get much simpler my friends. Cut the background paper the proper size to fit in the frame. Then I drew the letters with a pencil at first followed by the permanent marker. Added some lines where needed. You can use paint, but I feel the marker is easier to control. And it practically dries instantly.

Not my most flattering photo but you get the point.

If you are not comfortable enough to do this free hand, you have a few options. There are a lot of stencils out there for the letters. And a ruler can be easily applied to sketch guidelines so it all matches.

For years I've been trying to find a good way to draw a snowflake. And if you are in the same dilemia & would like to know how I drew mine, here's a quick step by step tutorial. The design is open enough to make imperfections lovely.

After you draw out what you like & it dries, it's ready to go back into the frame then be placed in the desirable spot. For our mantel, I did intentionally pick one "odd" frame and overlapped the frames to give a 3D effect.

So there you have it! A quick, easy, and cheap way to add a new decoration to your home this season. I hope to share a few more ideas throughout the month when it comes to either decorations or gifts. I'm also pleased to share a photo of this year's Christmas tree! Are all your decorations up yet?

Happy Festivus!