Oversized Wood Christmas Tags

It is fun to find different ways to decorate a door than using a traditional wreath. I found these Thanksgiving Tags on the blog That’s My Letter. I thought they were so cute and I wanted to make some Wood Christmas Tags for my front door for Christmas.

Supplies

1-1×8 wood board

Miter saw, miter box or skill saw

Pencil

Ruler

Sand paper

Jute or rope – I used a 4 ply, 1 lb purchased from Joanns

Spray paint

Acrylic or latex paint

Sealer

Command Picture Hanging Strips or double sided tape

Luckily I was able to get my wooden pieces for free. There was some scrap wood at Home Depot that were the perfect size for what I needed. I asked “how much,” the employee wrote “free” on the boards, yah! I suggest with projects like these to check the scrap/clearance wood section at the hardware store. You never know what you will find.

My boards measured about 7 1/4 inches by 18 inches.

Next I drew my angled measurements on the board with a pencil. I started with the top edge, marked the middle.  I measured out 1 inch on either side of my middle mark for a total of 2 inches that would be left after cutting my angles.  I started at the top of each corner, measured down the board 4 inches, marked it and then connected the marks on the side to the marks on the top. I also marked where to drill the hole where the jute would go. I repeated this with both boards, then cut the angles with a miter saw.
I then drilled holes for the jute. After all cuts were made I sanded down all the edges and any splintering.Next I spray painted both sides of the boards with Rustoleum white in a flat finish.I spray painted both sides just in case I decided to use the other side for a different holiday in the future. Then I used the font Bookman Old Style, size 420 to make my “Peace” and “Joy.” Someday soon, maybe for Christmas I will get a Cameo Silhouette (hint, hint to the hubby). That machine seems to do some pretty amazing things. But in the meantime, nothing fancy here, I just cut out the letters out and traced them with a pencil.
After tracing the letters I painted the letters with a few coats of Americana acrylic paint in Holly Green and Cherry Red.

I cut the jute, inserted it through the drilled hole and made a knot. I then hammered picture hooks to the door to hang the tags. After hanging them on the hooks and going in and out of the front door and hearing the wood tags banging the door it needed something to secure it in place. I had one Command Picture Hanging Strip left, since I had used the others for another project :-/.
I cut it down the middle and utilized 2 pieces for the back of each wood tag and 2 pieces for the door. A trick I use with the Command Strips is once I adhere them to the boards I attach the other piece to it so it looks like this. I remove the backing, position the wood tag to where I want it to stay and then push the wood tag against the door so the Command Strip adheres to the door. After a few seconds I pull back wood tag to see that the Command Strip is stuck in place on the door. I press the wood tag back against the door so the Command Strips can adhere together. The Command Strips worked great even only using half a piece for each wood tag. No front door banging anymore.


What other non-wreath decorations have you made for Christmas? I would love to hear about them.