Those are wonderful! Good for you!

reno: you have such an amazing talent. I love to open your threads...it is always a treat for the eyes. Those plaques are wonderful. The love is certainly apparent in each . Great gifts and lucky family. c

Love them both...especially the act old later.
Nice to make your gifts so personal.
Karen L

Brillant! So personal and most kind and loving gifts -- which sums up the "bottom line" of the true Holiday spirit!

Well done!

Jan

Wow, you did a FANTASTIC job and I'll bet it was fun to do. There's a great deal of satisfaction in creating gifts for others. I'm sure they'll treasure these gifts far more than you can imagine.

Those are wonderful! For a crafting doofus like me, can you give us directions on how to create our own?

What great gifts and more personal than clicking something from Amazon.com.

Great job Reno. I might have to steal the "Act old later."
Diane

Absolutely fabulous! I like your Act Old Later better than the inspiration one :)

& me too, please - directions? The letters look like they're made of wood - if you did that yourself I bow to your expertise :)

Fabulous! I want that "Act Old Later" one too :) Did you buy the letters or did you learn master-level jigsaw cutting in a week or whatever? :) I love finding sources for wooden letters, so if you can share, that would be so kind.

Can I be on your list? :oP I've been a very good girl (ok mostly) and santa doesn't have the talent you do :oP

Very creative, they look wonderful, Reno!

OMG, these are perfect. You have such a talent, Renofan. Everything you touch turns to gold. :o) I'm with trailrunner, whenever I see one of your threads, I gather such inspiration.

And I have to admit, that as I get older (nearing 40... eeeks) I actually PREFER handmade gifts. I love gardening, and last year my friend hand painted me a sign that said "totallyblessed's (not really, but my real name) garden". I actually cried when I opened it. I was just so touched that she had taken the time to make something so personalized. I can't even draw cute stick men, so it really meant a lot to me, as I could never make one for myself!!!

Hoorah for your creations. You did a great job, as always, Renofan. :o)

P.S. I too prefer your "act old later" to the original. :o)

Awww thanks guys! I was worried that mine was going to come out too "amateurish", and not look good on it's own, especially considering that I was working from an inspiration photo. Thanks for the vote of confidence!

Fly and Jen and all,

I got all materials at Michael's. Plain wood blocks, 19 gauge wire, and the wood letters.

I was going to either hand-paint or decopage the letters, but when I saw their neat wood pre-cut letters I opted to get those instead.

I did hand paint the date on the name plaque, and it was HARD to get it to come out right. If I did it again, I'd probably do some sort of rub-on lettering. It was really, really difficult to get the strokes even. For one small portion, like a date, I think it adds to the charm, but if the whole piece was shaky and wobbly looking, I don't think I'd be happy with it.

The kids and I just painted, crackled, repainted, sanded, glazed, and repainted the boards, painted and distressed the letters, and then glued them on. (That makes it sound MUCH harder than it was.)

For the name plaque we just stained those letters.

I'm exhausted from it, but they were worth it, and hopefully the recipients will like them.

reno fan you inspired me!

I was out & about all afternoon, & Michael's was one of my stops. Unfortunately, they didn't have the wooden letters I was hoping for, so I thought I was going to leave empty-handed :(. On my way out I saw the Aisle Of Letters & I went crazy! Vinyl sticky types - & I plan on having loads of fun with them! I do believe I may have a lifetime supply lol!

I am going to steal the "Act Old Later" phrase - hopefully I'll be able to create some tonight - stuck on to heavy card stock & *ahem* 'suitable for framing' & pass them out to the members of my women's group tomorrow morning - I know they'll love them!

moonkat99~

That is a GREAT idea. I love to see cool cardstock/scrapbook type items framed. I bet they will LOVE them. :o)

That sign is adorable, good job!

Joann

Sooooooooo cute...much, much cuter then the one in the catalog. Could you make one for me that says, "act witchy later?" Please use a "b" where I have the "w." This site would not let me post the "b word." Anyway, my husband would love that sign for me. LOL!

pup

Made in the USA, by hand, by someone who loves you. What more could a gift recipient ask for? Really nice work and nice idea.

I hope this isn't a hijack, because it's in honor of your inspiration reno! Here are the cards I made, and I also took the framed initial idea that others have done so beautifully, & did small versions with the stick-on letters.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

And btw, the women in my womens' group who are *koffkoff* of a certain age loved the cards. There are a couple who are on the, shall we say, slightly younger side - they were politely complimentary lol.

IÂm loving these, this is what Christmas Spirit/> is about, wonderful job!

Thank you, Reno, for explaining how you made them! I think I might try making a house/name sign along these lines for my inlaws after the holidays.

And Moonkat, thank you for sharing your creations as well. They're wonderful!

Ah, such a creative, inspirational bunch we have here!