Popsicles and Popcorn: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I was inspired by a company called Raise to participate in a project involving Christmas, decorating, and craft/DIY.

Ummm....YES!

So here is the scoop

Raise is an awesome online marketplace where you can buy gift cards to your favorite stores at a discounted price and sell your unwanted gift cards for cash!

What a great idea, right?

So I put my thinking cap on and came up with an idea that sort of morphed from a picture I saw on Pinterest.

I made a run to my local Hobby Lobby with a gift card that you too can find at www.Raise.com

I purchased some gold craft paint, a sponge brush, and a paint/marker type pen.(I had the ruler)

And a large canvas-30x40

The canvas was on sale so I paid much less than the sticker price.

I painted the edges and sides with the gold paint to give it a "frame" so to speak.

While it was drying I had the kids brainstorm their favorite memories and/or traditions of the Christmas season.

This was so much fun to hear what they remembered and cherished the most about the holiday season!

After I had a long list, I measured and drew faint lines with a pencil and ruler on the canvas as a guide.

I then began writing the memories and traditions on the canvas with my paint/marker pen until I had filled that big ole thing up!

Next I took a "fake" wreath I had in the attic, added some real Carolina Sapphire pine to it and tied a piece of twine around the wreath in which to hang the wreath from. I just used a thumb tack to secure the twine to the center wood support on the back of the canvas.

TaaaDaaa!

Next I filled some vases with more fresh pine and greens from my yard, and feathers, which I had left over from my fall decor. These went next to the canvas.

I already had 2 large vases with feathers up on the mantle so I just decided to leave them up.

I also found some garland in the attic that had some natural elements to it like pinecones, sticks and twine so I strung that up on the edge. And then added a string of lights that look like vine.