This post is brought to you by DecoArt.
Before we get started I just wanted to say Happy Veteran's Day to all the veterans out there ~ especially my dad & grandpas! I really appreciate the example & sacrifices they & all veterans have made for our country.
Ok….now are you ready for this? ha! It’s my very first Christmas tutorial of the year ~ a super cute painted nativity! Yay! I love, love Christmas. One of my favorite decorations to bring out are my nativity sets. Yes, I have a few. ;) I love having ones that my kiddos can play with! Last Christmas one of my best friends, Robyn from Create it. Go! sent me an unfinished nativity set. I didn’t have time to get it done last year so I was super excited to get to work on it this year in plenty of time for Christmas with the help of some fabulous Americana Acrylic Paints. ;) I love acrylic paints. They dry super fast, and they are perfect for a project like this one. I’m also going to share two of my favorite crafty tips ~ how to make a easy hand sander & how to easily add that distressed look to wood without using wood stain. So keep reading to see all the details. :)
You’ll need a few supplies for this project:
unfinished nativity set (Tip: You can search etsy for these!)
distress ink
sandpaper
foam brushes
Americana Acrylic Paint
paper towels or old rags
The Americana Acrylic Paint colors I used for this project were: Shale Green, Slate Green, Blue Chiffon, Soft Lilac, Soft Sage, Camel, French Vanilla, Light Mocha, Soft Heather, Soft Blue & Reindeer Moss Green.
First (with a little help from my kiddos) I painted each nativity piece a different color. It only took 2 coats to get a nice even coverage.
I always let my painted pieces dry over night before I distress them. I want to give the paint plenty of time to dry thoroughly. The first step in distressing is sanding the edges of your wood slightly. I’m going to show you an easy way to sand something small like these nativity figures. You just get a scrap piece of 2x4.
Then wrap a piece of sandpaper around it. Then it turns it into a handy little sander. ;)
Then I gently sanded the edges of all of my blocks.
Also, I recently discovered any easy way to add that distressed color to the wood. I have always used wood stain but it’s so smelly, & the kiddos can’t really help with that part of a project. So a few weeks ago I tried distress ink, and guess what? It works just as well! It’s so much easier, too!
Just grab a paper towel or rag. Dab it in your ink, & then rub it around the edges of your wood blocks. It works great! If you get too much on, just rub off the excess ink.
I love how the ink adds a little more dimension to the nativity figures. It’s perfect! :)
I love how this nativity set turned out! The colors are just perfect together, and I can’t wait to display it in a couple of weeks! Yes, I’m one of those that waits until after Thanksgiving to decorate! I even made my kids wait until the week of Christmas to put up the tree one year. Isn’t that just awful? ;) I won’t do that again! haha! ;)
Check out more of my Christmas projects if you have a chance.
Enjoy this block nativity post, too! It's one of my favorites. :)
What is your favorite thing about Christmas?
When do you start your holiday decorating?
I’d love to hear! ;)
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