Christmas Sleigh Home Decor with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your holiday.  Instead of making something for Thanksgiving, I thought I would make a home decor piece for Christmas, which really is just around the corner.  For this, I am using this gorgeous Santa's Sleigh sturdy chipboard by Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts, along with the Deer set, to use as either table or home decor, a candy dish, or to give as a gift to your family and friends.  It measures 8 ¼ inches long by 5 ¼ inches tall by 3 ¾ inches wide and is made of heavy duty chipboard, so it will hold whatever you may wish to put in it, like candy or maybe a beautiful floral arrangement.

First, I recommend a dry fit of the pieces to make sure they will go together properly.  

Then you may want to number or letter them to keep them straight.  I used letters for the inside pieces.  

Fig. 1

Paint the sleigh parts with ColourArte Vivid Solar Gold Ultra Metallic using a sponge applicator.  Use a dabbing motion with the sponge for a smooth application without allowing the paint to get into the openings and holes.  Paint the edges of both sleigh pieces and one side of each of the frame (open) pieces.  These will be glued down later, so the unpainted side will not be seen.

My inspiration for the next step is this piece of paper I found in my stash.  I think I was able to come close.  What do you think?

Add the white specks of paint by picking up a very small amount of white acrylic paint with a wad of plastic wrap.  Dab most of the paint off before dabbing the chipboard sleigh frame and sides.  

While the paint is drying, you can trace around the chipboard template and cut out your side pieces, as shown.

For the bottom of the sleigh, trim papers to fit the C, D, and E pieces (Fig. 1) on both sides, leaving the tabs free for assembly.  I have chosen the green papers for the inside and the red papers for the outside.  Remember, when I did the dry fit of these pieces, I labeled the inside (green paper) as C, D, and E.  Always check yourself first before gluing your papers down.  

Checking my assembly again.

Remove the sides in the same order as the dry fit assembly, and lay your papers out to match.  Now you are ready to glue them down.  

Glue your side pieces to the sleigh now.  Before assembling the parts, cut out the holes in the sleigh pieces.  

Turn the pieces over and repeat the previous steps to cover the opposite sides, as shown.  

However, DO NOT cut out the holes for assembly.  Leave the paper intact to cover the entire outside, as shown.

Glue the frame piece to the outside, matching up the chipboard, as shown.  Let one side dry first before turning it over and gluing the opposite side to ensure the frame piece does not slip out of position.  When the glue dries, you can turn it over and glue the opposite side.

Glue inside pieces to one of the sides of  the sleigh.   

Then adhere the second side to the inside pieces.  

Cut Snowflake Border apart into pieces that will fit on the sides of the sleigh.

Paint snowflakes with white acrylic paint, and while still wet, dust with a holographic glitter.

Adhere to sides of sleigh, as shown.

Paint both sides of Deer with brown acrylic paint, and paint the hooves black.  Add snow writer paint along tips of antlers, as shown.

Now you are ready to embellish your sleigh with florals, or if you prefer, use it as a candy dish.  I chose to add floral embellishments.  Here are a few pictures from different angles.

Place deer next to the sleigh, as shown in the finished photo at the top of the post.

Supplies used:

GSL Santa's Sleigh
GSL Deer
GSL Snowflake Border
My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Christmas paper pad
ColourArte Vivid Solar Gold Ultra Metallic acrylic paint
White and brown acrylic paint
Foam blending tool or makeup sponge
Snow writer paint
Hologram glitter
Floral embellishments

I hope you have been inspired to make one of these beautiful Christmas sleighs for your holiday decorating, or to give as gifts.  

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to check out all the fabulous inspiration from the rest of the team.  

Barbara

A Fall Staggered Mini Album with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

Hi everyone!  If you are ready for Fall, I have a fun Staggered Mini Album for you to help celebrate the coming of the Season.  Even here in the Mid-South, there is a crispness in the air in the evening, and I am loving it. 

To begin, I am using Graphic 45's Botanicabella paper collection.  I am so glad they resurrected this beautiful paper line. It is perfect for this time of year, and I love all of the elements, as well.  So, cut out your papers and adhere them to each page of the Staggered Mini Album.  This album is super easy to cover because of its straight lines.

To decorate the front cover using the 4" square chipboard piece, I discovered that the Deco Frames 6 Inch and the Tudor Rose Singles would work perfectly.

Paint Deco Frames 6 Inch with two colors of paint using a sponge and dabbing motion to provide the mottled effect.   Paint both sides of the frame since they will show when the book is opened.  Distress the edge with a brown distress ink.  Paint the Tudor Rose Singles with black paint.

Paint a single gear from the Gears Shape Set with a rust paint, dabbing a tiny bit of black to give a mottled effect.

Glue frame edges to the 4" square chipboard piece.

Turn the Tudor Rose over and glue the gear to the center back.  (TIP:  Put the glue on the back of the Tudor Rose and not on the gear.)

Back side

Front side

Add foam dots to the center (gear) of the Tudor Rose and adhere to center of 4" square chipboard piece.

Use a ruler to mark about 1" from the right side of the 4" chipboard piece and place white glue inside this area.  

Flip the narrow chipboard piece over and align the strip along the pencil line.  This is now your front cover of the mini album.

I wanted to add some pockets to the pages, so I adhered small black pocket style envelopes to the second, third and fourth pages, as shown.  This will allow me to insert tags or bits of ephemera for safe keeping.

To finish off the cover, I added floral embellishments.  I decided to add this butterfly to the focal point since butterflies were prevalent in the paper.  I colored the butterfly with green chalk paint, then added copper metallic paint along the outer edge.  Lastly, I added a thin edging of black paint.  (See finished photo above for placement).

I fussy cut lots of images from the print papers to use throughout the book.  For the next page, I painted one of the chevron words with black paint and adhered a piece of print paper beneath it.  

I cut apart two strips from the Texture Sheet Diamonds, painted them black, and adhered them to the next page, as shown.  I cut apart a few of the leaves from Skeleton Leaves 2, painted with green paint, and adhered over the diamond texture.  

I added a couple more of the skeleton leaves on this page, as well.

I painted a Border Sticks Shell strip with black paint and adhered it along the edge, as shown.  It really adds some beautiful detail to the page.  Oh yes, I had a few more skeleton leaves left to add to the floral spray on this page. 

To finish off the back cover, I painted the large Tulip Scroll Corners and adhered it to the left edge.  

Supplies Used:

GSL Staggered Mini Album (contact store)
GSL Border Sticks Shell
GSL Tudor Rose Singles
GSL Deco Frames 6 Inch
GSL Gears Shape Set
GSL Chevron Words
GSL Tulip Scroll Corners 
GSL Butterflies and Dragonflies
GSL Skeleton Leaves 2
GSL Texture Sheet Diamonds

I hope you enjoyed my Fall themed mini album today.  Be sure to check out all the great chipboard in the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts shop.  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful week!

Barbara