sassacraft #7

this past Christmas, i wanted to give Christmas gifts to my boss and my co-workers, but i didn't have the money to purchase nice things for them, and i didn't want to go down to the dollar store and buy some knick-knack that they were sure to effusively thank me for, then throw away after a week of guilt-keep. so, i made something.

these bird plaques were inspired by a favorite verse of mine: Matthew 6:26. "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

artistically, birds are probably my favorite thing to depict. i wish that i could paint them better. i love to look at paintings of birds. some of my favorite bloggers are artists who also love to paint birds, like Sandi and Jennifer. i get inspiration by looking at, gazing at, taking in their work.

these were so easy to make. i used some scrap plywood that i had my daddy cut down to boards measuring something like 9"x13" (i no longer have any in my possession, or i would get the exact measurements). then i had him drill two holes through the top to put the ribbon through. when that was finished, i brought them in, painted them a base color, and then cheated a little. my mom and my sister-in-law and i sort of mass-produced these one weekend, so we had bought a stencil for the birds. we chose complimentary colors for the backgrounds and birds, sponged on the stencils, and set aside to dry. we printed the verses on sheets of white cardstock, and tea-stained some of them tan. (the ones below were both left white for better contrast with the colors of the plaque). when the paint was dry, we mod-podged the verses on, and coated the whole board with mod podge for a uniform matte finish. last, we strung ribbon, or on some others, twine, through the holes for a hanger. and voila! a bird-themed plaque! we made eight for a gift exchange party, and five for my bosses and co-workers. and they are just so pretty!