If you follow my blog you will know that I love William Morris and Annie Sloan chalk paint Christmas baubles, so I decided to create a whole Christmas collection of decorations using both. Last year we bought a house in France and we were planning to spend Christmas there so I thought it would be amazing to create a completely home made/upcycled set of decorations for the new house. I did this in January as lots of people throw out their decorations (!?) so you can get them for free, you can get items to upcycle in the sales and I had some long dark winter evenings to fill.
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Above is what I started with. I spent £10. I made the NOEL sign with vintage William Morris Blackthorn curtains (more on how below) for a Christmas shop display. The material inspired my colour palette. I picked 3 tester pots of Annie Sloan chalk paint: Coco, Tilton and Barcelona Orange. Beautiful retro colours which all look stunning with Christmas tree green. The red matte baubles you can see are from a colour block Christmas tree I did two years ago (you can see it here).
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So I started by painting the baubles. I used my half and half paint technique: paint half of the bauble and once you’ve done them all, that half is dry enough to hold to paint the other half. No prep, just 2 coats of Chalk paint and then a clear coat of wax.
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I then wanted to add some William Morris to the baubles. Using the off cuts from the vintage Blackthorn curtains, I cut out the leaves and flowers.
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Then using Mod Podge matte I stuck them to the painted and waxed baubles.
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Now you could make star decorations like these but they were so cheap in the sale, I thought it would be much easier. Using the star as a template, I cut out the Blackthorn and using spray adhesive I stuck the material to the star.
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As you can see, I was better with the alignment the second time round! I forgot to photograph the lametta tassels but I just covered the tops of them with velvet ribbon.
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The NOEL sign was my most popular Instagram post last year when I was selling them in a local shop. You can read my easy how to here.
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Et voilà! A completely home made/upcycled set of decorations inspired by William Morris Blackthorn and my love of Annie Sloan paint. Doesn’t it look more cohesive now?
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Lots of texture and it all works together.
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So I couldn’t help myself and in July, much to the amusement of my kids, I put up the Christmas tree to see the whole collection.
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I love how they look together and especially against the Christmas tree green.
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I nearly forgot the cute little deer. You can read how I saved him from my garden and gave him a new Christmas life here.
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I can’t wait to put up these decorations in our house in France. Hopefully Christmas 2021!
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Pin this image to Pinterest to find this post later.
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I hope this has inspired you to make, upcycle and create your own unique Christmas decorations. Please let me know in the comments below.
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Happy Christmas making!