I have been SO into Christmas this year, like more than ever before. I’m going to chalk it up to being a first time mom and seeing the magic of Christmas through new eyes, all over again.. I’m feeling like Mrs. Claus every time I do something festive at home. LOL. If you’re new to my blog I love getting crafty and creating. SO I decided to take on a new Christmas craft this year! This Christmas season we are slowly but surely turning our home into a Christmas wonderland.
The wooden, white truck that sparked joy
I saw this white truck hanging on a display in the middle of a Michaels isle, immediately grabbed it, and thought I’m going to paint this for Cruz. I’ve had this grand idea to simply decorate Cruz’s room for Christmas, as a Christmas Tree Farm. The little truck right here was the perfect start and perfect Christmas craft! Also, how fun is it to create Christmas decorations for your littles to last their life time and maybe even get passed down to the next?
Beginning your truck
First things first, gather all your materials. Below is a list of materials you’ll need!
- Cardboard or newspaper (to put down so you don’t ruin any surfaces)
- Painters tape – (linked- from Michaels)
- Paint (I used acrylic paint for my truck, because I have loads of it at home already)
- A few different sized Acrylic Paint Brushes (linked- a great starter pack from Michaels)
- Paint Palette (linked- from Michaels)
- Vase of water to rinse your brushes
- Paper towel to dry your brushes
After you have everything you need, you can get started! 🙂 Use the painters tape to tape around the jute twine, so paint doesn’t ruin it. Then begin by outlining all the fine details of your truck.. I tend to use one color at a time, so I started with black!
Filling in your truck
Next, fill in your truck with red. I chose a vibrant red and mixed in a bit of ‘Burnt Sienna’, to get that rustic look. Luckily acrylic paint dries wicked fast, so I was able to do a few coats in only a couple hours!
Paint your tree
For my tree I, again, mixed a couple shades of green to get the look I was going for. The shades I mixed were ‘Phthalo Green’ and ‘Green Oxide’.
Finishing up
Then I began to add in a couple shades of grey, for highlights. I create my greys by mixing together little bits of black and white..I tend to play with with my mixture a bit until I get the shade I’m looking for. After you get your first base coats on, you can move on to your second and third coats. Using those second and third coats you can really start to add dimension to your truck and tree. Another great way to you make your truck and tree look realistic, is to focus on your brush strokes. For example, picture the direction and way in which the branches and needles on a tree grow, practice your brush strokes in that same way!
And that’s all folks, a fun and easy way to make a homemade Christmas decoration. 🙂