DIY Christmas Decor & Gift Idea: Save the Date Blocks

 In October, I made up these little blocks for the holidays. (excuse the boring photos...but you get the idea.)  There were some 2 by 4's or 2 by 6's sitting in the garage, so I had my husband cut them up for me. I painted them a solid color, and then printed out the dates on my computer. I found a font I liked and played around with it until I got the right size. These are LARGE. I think I used the font at size 300. Here is the fun part. I applied the letters 2 different ways. I did some using freezer paper stencil. BUT an even easier way, was to print the letters, and use a sharp item- such as a ball point pen. Place the paper on top of the painted wood, and trace the letters onto the wood pressing very hard. When you are done, you have the outline of the letters in the wood. Now you just have to fill it in with paint. (I will try to do a tutorial on how I did this is if I just confused you...)  This is how I did the OCTOBER one. The other two are freezer paper stencils.  Of course you lucky people who own a fancy cutting machine, can just use that to make something like this.

 I thought it would be fun to make a few of these, Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's and the 4th of July, and give them as a gift-- to that person who likes holiday decor.  The best part of this is that it was FREE (already had the wood and paint) and EASY. After painting the dates on, I sanded the blocks lightly. This helps you to hide any mistakes, and give it that "old  shabby look." (don't ask me what it is called...)

Thanks for reading!