A Festive Interlude!

I am always very last minute when it comes to Christmas decorations and preparations. However, I have been wanting to try using our MDF Scandi Bird Trio as festive decorations for some time and thought it would be a fun project to share with you as a step by step tutorial :)

Our Scandi Bird trio are 2 layer mdf decorations so I pulled out some acrylic paints in traditional red and green and our A6 Poinsettia and Christmas Carol stamp sets....

I painted the base layers in festive colours - I like to use a simple foam brush for painting mdf. They don't tend to leave brush strokes and give a nice even coverage.

When painting MDF you can use gesso as a base layer - it stops the paint from sinking in to the mdf and means you don't need to paint as many layers. Also the gesso gives you a white base to work on. I didn't on this occasion but it is definitely worth doing on bigger projects.

I painted the top layers of the birds in white and, with one of them, I added a further coat of red paint which I then sanded back for a distressed look when dry.

Once the top layers were dry I stamped them with the festive stamps in black Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed with Wow Clear Super Fine. I wanted to make sure that I got a good, crisp impression so I used my stamping platform with the foam removed. I put some masking tape on the back of the bird so that it would stay in place in the platform.

I think that they would look great heat embossed in gold too!

I love the detail that the Poinsettia and Christmas Carol stamps contain - they add a wonderful decorative layer to the birds. Once heat embossed I stuck the 2 layers of the bird decorations together and then went around the edge with black archival ink and a cosmetic sponge. This is completely optional but I like the definition it gives to the shape and the slightly distressed feel that it adds.

As a final decorative touch I used some acrylic gold gouache with the flat end of a kebab skewer to add gold dots to the birds. You could use a gold gel pen or gold paint to get a similar effect.

I simply added some twine to the birds so that they are ready to hang. I really like how they turned out and think they have a wonderful shabby folk vibe but you could use different colour combos to create different looks.

I have put these products together as a bundle in the shop at a fabulous price so you can give it a try: https://www.funkyfossil.co.uk/product-page/festive-birds-bundle

Do you make your own christmas decorations? I would love to know how you craft for Christmas!

Until next time,