{Get Crafty} DIY Ballard Designs Inspired Holiday Door Tags

I love when I can DIY something fairly close to the original for a lot less moola.   I get a lot of decoration inspiration from Ballard Designs and when their holiday catalogue arrived these holiday door tags caught my eye.

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They add a nice big visual statement to the door and I loved their simple design.  One side says "Give Thanks"

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and the other side says "Happy Holidays".   Gotta love a dual-holiday decoration!  At $25 plus shipping though, I thought I could maybe replicate them at a fraction of the cost.   Maybe!

The originals are made out of iron but I chose easy to work with balsa wood.  I picked up one piece of it at Michael's for $2.99 and some black paint ($0.79).  I got the thinnest piece I could find and it was about 36 inches long.

Balsa wood cuts easily with a utility knife. I cut the wood in half and then I sketched out the top "tag" part to cut with the knife using a ruler.

 I had to make a few extra cuts to make the two tags even.  Perfection is not my strong suit.

 Then they each got 2 coats of black craft paint on each side.

Drying in between coats of course and touching up where necessary. I punched holes in the top with a paper hole punch.  Then I asked my talented eldest child to pretty please add the lettering to the tags. She chose her own font and free-handed the letters with white paint.

I will probably add a clear spray sealer to the tags but it's been too cold and windy lately to get that done. In the meantime, here they are on my Wine Cork wreath,ready to greet visitors in the front hall.

They also look lovely on our fall wreath at the front door.  We have a storm door so they are protected from the elements.

The finished tags are about 16 inches tall and 4 inches wide.  I used a grey gingham checked ribbon (recycled from a Christmas gift) to hang the tags.  Raffia also looked nice with the cork wreath.

The Merry Christmas side is adding even more holiday cheer to our evergreen wreath.

I'm really pleased with how these turned out.   

 Finished cost was less than $4.00. woop woop!

Here's another Ballard Designs inspired tag project.

Ballard Designs Inspired Beverage Tags
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Cooking and Crafting with J & J

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