{Give Thanks} Thanksgiving Home Decor Made Simple With The Silhouette CAMEO

Sometimes I feel bad for Thanksgiving.

Sure, it’s a the top of the list for the “yummy factor”…who doesn’t love at least a few things in the Turkey Day spread?

But, as far as decorations go…it kind of gets the raw end of the deal.

By the time fall comes around, I haven’t really gone all out in the decorating department since the spring, so I go a little crazy with the Halloween decor.

And of course, Christmas gets all of my attention literally the day after Thanksgiving. For many of you, Black Friday is a day full of shopping and sale hunting. For me, it’s a “stay in pajamas, drink large quantities of coffee, and decorate like a crazy lady while Christmas carols blast throughout my house” kind of day.

So where does that leave Thanksgiving? Kind of stuck in the middle. I just kind of take down the “spooky” parts of Halloween and leave the pumpkins behind. Is that really considered decorating, then?

I was determined this year to make something for Thanksgiving that not only would do this day filled with family, friends, and food justice, but remind me to be thankful. That would remind me to slow down and enjoy this day filled with love and laughter, and “give thanks” for all that I am so lucky to have.

The how-to for my “Give Thanks” board is below. It’s a super easy project, especially for those of you that are in that “I’d like to jump into the world of power tools, but they scare the you-know-what out of me” category…there’s only one cut needed!

Enjoy,

Nikki, In Stitches

Materials:

• 1′” x 12″ pine plank, cut to size (I cut this one to about 47″ long.)
• Paint, paint brushes, and wax, if desired (I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White, CoCo (lightened with just about a bit of the Pure White) and her clear wax, but feel free to experiment with different brands and colors.)
• Sand paper
• Silhouette Cutting System
• Silhouette adhesive backed vinyl
• 12″ x 24″ Silhouette CAMEO® cutting mat (Note: I know not everyone will have this! You can get around it by creating a slightly smaller board, or by splitting your decal into a few pieces…tips for doing that are below!)

Directions:

• Create “flourish” stencil and “Give Thanks” decal with the Silhouette Studio Design software. (I purchased the “flourish” from the Silhouette online store for only $0.99. You can find it here. The “Give Thanks” decal is just text written in the Edwardian Script font. You can get a general idea of how big I had to cut them in the pictures below!)

• Cut both the flourish (Twice…one for each end of the board!) and the text decal with the Silhouette CAMEO® out of adhesive backed vinyl. (Note: I had some left over 12″ wide vinyl that I used for the flourish. Considering the color didn’t matter, I just grabbed whatever roll had the most left on it. You could easily move the shapes around to fit on a 9″ wide piece. The black “Give Thanks” is cut from a 9″ wide piece!)

NOTE: Be sure to select your text, click the “Cut Style” Menu and select “Cut Edge.” This will cut the entire word in one piece (rather than letter by letter). If you do not have the large cutting mat, and need to break your word into smaller pieces, ungroup your word into individual letters. Group the letters back together in chunks that will fit on the 12″ x 12″ cutting mat.

• Paint board Pure White and let dry completely.

• Using Silhouette hook, remove the negative space of your flourish stencil. Position on board and apply CoCo paint. (You know the technique here…up and down “dabbing”…Not side to side brushes. You don’t want to risk moving your stencil!) Let dry complete before removing your stencil.

• Repeat on opposite end of the board. (I flipped that one upside down, but you can do whatever you’d like!)

• Sand board to “age” it to your liking. (Be sure to get the edges and corners. Look for knots in the wood and focus there…it will bring some dimension to your board!)

• Apply “Give Thanks” decal to board.

Need some tips for getting the stencils and that decal perfectly in place? Take a peek at my how-to video in this post!)