Joy: A Tutorial

I thought a good long time about what to title this post.  I settled on this one.... though, you may wonder why when you are finished reading.  Have you guys seen the lovely, sparkly Christmasy words that you can use all over the house?  The really pretty vintagy glittery ones?  I decided that I would make one... I had a space near the tree that needed something.  So, I asked Mr. Hughes to print out "joy" really large in a flourishy font (Mr. Hughes knows his fonts!)  He went one step further and printed out registration marks so it would be easy to put all the pages together.

I decided to put it on the back of the cardboard from a watercolor paper book.  I thought that cardboard from a box would be jagged and rough.  I applied rubber cement to the back of the word and applied it to the board.  I decided that a X-Acto  knife wouldn't cut through the board, but a Dremel would.  I then went outside to use the  Dremel since Baby Hughes was taking a late nap.  It was cold!

I then cut off the majority of the board as close to the word as possible with the really big scissors ( they may be metal shears, I am not sure.)

I then used the Dremel with the same bit that Mr. Hughes used to carve MDF with a few days prior.

  I want to stop here to let you know that I have used a Dremel every day for about 5 years.  Every. Day.  (I use one at work to trim acrylic for retainers and to cut metal for orthodontic appliances.)  So, I was pretty excited when we got ours recently.  I thought I would show Mr. Hughes a thing or to about THIS power tool.  I was pretty confident that cutting through cardboard would be a lot easier than metal or acrylic.  So, I started cutting... it was cold.  It was messy... I had on some reading glasses for eye protection, but I didn't have a mask on... it was dusty.  It was taking a lot longer than I imagined.  Then it happened.

Once.... I went inside to wash it off... no biggie...

Twice... what is going on?

Three times.... why does this Dremel hate me?!?  After the third cut across my knuckles, I decided to try a different bur that almost caused the paper to catch on fire.  In five years, I have never, ever gotten cut. But,  I kept going, I wasn't going to stop now...

Here is the rough cut... I took a break here to take a shower and get a blood transfusion.  I was dusty and my hand looked terrible... much worse than in the photos.  I went inside the house and Mr. Hughes said a few words about my injuries that I will not repeat since I know that my mother reads my blog.

After the shower, I sanded the edges of the devil board with some sand paper to get it smooth.

Next, I coated the front with a thin layer of tacky glue.

I then transfered it to a box where I could contain the German Glass Glitter in all of its glory.

I didn't take photos of the glitter process, but you can probably figure that part out.

Here is the finished project:

I hung it in a chippy vintage frame.  I simply attached a little bias tape to the back of the sign and then hung it in the frame from this:

A cute little vintage tack that was used for storm windows or screens.

I wish I could've gotten a better photo, but it has been grey outside.

All things considered, I think it turned out pretty well (I have 5 bandages across my knuckles as I type.)

I have refused to look for a photo to compare mine to since the Dremel debacle... mine is PERFECT!  Please don't tell me any different.  And, please don't tell me that I could have just bought one for the price of a box of bandages and some Neosporin.  Oh, and please don't tell me an easier way or how you would have done it... it would take away my JOY!

**if you happen to want a PDF of the letters so you can try this, just let me know!**