"Joy to the World" Rustic Sign

Can I just say...

I am so behind.

Currently...I just finished up empyting the last christmas decor box about an hour ago.
Our beautiful, real Christmas tree that we cut down Saturday is leaning by our front door.

And I have about a thousand tutorials to post for you lovelies.

Ok...so not a thousand.

But you get the gist.

So what's been keeping me from dropping everything and spending hours posting to bloggy land?

School

I've had about a million tests and finals STILL aren't til next week.

I have a practical tomorrow in my Kinesiology class (pray please!!)

And I'm just praying to pass my Gross anatomy course...

Family

Little man is in his 'tantrum' phase.

Oh how I hate it.

But threatening to take away his 'babies' work well... he loves his stuffed animals.

We got our christmas tree Saturday.

And hubby and I picked up a new hobby--disc golfing. We ADORE it.

Are those good enough reasons to be a little behind?

Are you ready for some kind of christmas delicious-ness?

I whipped up a bunch of projects I've had on my mind in one days time so I'm going to try and show you a few this week.

Aren't you excited?

This one happened to come up because I wanted to really make my mantel gorgeous this year.

It's huge.

And i never really know how to fill it out.

So this was part of my solution...

I had this pretty piece of scap wood I got for .50 at the Restore...

I love the grain on it... and the chunkiness was perfect.

I cut out the letters in the size I wanted and laid them on the board to check what placement I wanted them in...

I wanted it to look worn so I let some of the letters fall off and pushed the beginning and end letters off the edge...

Before painting the words on, I lightly white-washed the wood with some cream paint to help the letters stand out more.

Then I used the stencil-parts of the letters (the part you punch the letters out of) and used them to paint the words on.

Sorry, no picture of that.

Here it is after the letters were painted on.

After the letters dried, I glazed it with my antiquing glaze.

Can't even tell you how much I lovvve that stuff!!

Here's my sister working on hers...

Here it is in all it's glorious, rustic-y goodness!!

(See that painted wood behind it?? A sneak peek for a quick and FUN project)

The one above is my sisters...the one below is mine hanging up on my wall...

Wanna see where it ended up??

Scooch to the next post and you can see my mantle all finished and topped off with 'joy'!

See, I'm catching up guys.

What are you still working on??

Linking too: 

• Your So Very Creative @ Me Making Do
• Letting These Creative Juices Flow @ These Creative Juices
• Trash to Treasure Tuesday @ Sassy Sites
• I Made It Without My Hubby @ Shanty to Chic
• It's a Creative Christmas @ The Creative Crate
• Whatever Goes Wednesdays @ Someday Crafts
• Under 100$ Linky Party @ Beyond the Picket Fence
• Hookin Up with HOH @ House of Hepworths
• Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge
• Catch a Glimpse @ A Glimpse Inside
• Everything but the Kitchen Sink @ A Little Knick Knack
• Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello