DIY Ornament with Upholstery Tacks!

I love upholstery tacks.

I know they are used mostly on furniture, but you can make a million other things out of them as well.

I loved using them on this magnet board that I made a couple of years ago for my boys’ room…

diy magnet board

And since I had a bunch of them left over, I decided to make an ornament with them.   I call it my “Christmas Blessings” ornament.

diy ornament with upholstery tacks

 

First of all, I bought this wooden plaque for 50 cents from Hobby Lobby.

diy ornament

Then I spray painted the plaque with some Krylon Satin Dover White that I had left over from another project. You could use any off white paint you may have at home.

diy ornament

Then I hammered in some bronze upholstery tacks that I bought from Lowe’s for $1.30. I used less than two boxes.

diy christmas ornament

Nailing in the tacks takes some practice. I had to draw a thin pencil line down the middle of the plaque to help me keep my lines straight.

The tacks are not perfectly lined up, but good enough. Smile

diy ornament with upholstery tacks

I left a space at the bottom of the tree for my red ribbon.

Then I used my StazOn Ink (that I already had) and stamped “Blessings” at the bottom of the plaque.

I got the “Blessings” stamp a few weeks ago in the dollar bins at Michael’s.

stazon

diy christmas ornament

Next, I hot glued some jute string to the top of the plaque so I could hang it on a wall or tree, and I hot glued my red ribbon on.

diy christmas ornament

I loved the way it turned out, but it looked a little too “new” to me. I love the look of old, vintage types of decorations.

So I used my sanding sponge and sanded down the edges of the plaque.

But since the plaque was pine, you couldn’t really see where I sanded it, and it didn’t have that vintage look I was after.

diy christmas ornament

So I used some Valspar Mocha glaze (that I have had for about two years!), and applied it to the sanded edges with a Q-tip and wiped it off with a paper towel.

blessings-plaque-036_thumb

It made the plaque look soooo much better!

diy christmas ornament

That’s it!

I took it outside and hung it on a tree because everything looks better in the sunshine. Smile

diy christmas ornament

I love my sweet little plaque!

It is such a great reminder of all the blessings that Christmas holds.

blessings-plaque-041_thumb

They have smaller plaques at Hobby Lobby if you would like to make a similar smaller ornament, or use it for a gift tag. I thought you could even do a monogram plaque as a gift!

diy christmas ornament

I pray that your Christmas is filled

with all the blessings that only HE can give!

7 Comments

  1. That’s a perfect gift!!! I love it! I have never in my life used an upholstery tack in fact my friend and I were trying to think of the name a few days ago!!! I see that narrow hammer would be mighty handy too. Love it all

  2. Hmmm…I have little wood floor samples from way back and m&ms and clear spray paint for covering the chocolate. Could I copy you and not go to the store since I’m disabled and well…getting rides are hard and boy…I’ve bot spray paint, jute, (twine in every color) plus those bright m&ms. When I get over this awful flu I might relax by making these trees. You are my inspiration. Ill let you know if its even doable though:-/

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