Simple Gifts for Black Friday

Black Friday sales are an abomination! 

All I want to do on the day after Thanksgiving is eat pie and whip cream, and think about Advent. I make most of my holiday gifts, and usually spend this free day at home, working on projects. 

And this year, since we decided not to meet for a big meal on Thanksgiving, we are all getting together outside to share desert!

Agenda:

1. Compile a family wish list
2. Make simple gifts
3. Dessert gathering

1. Compile a family wish list:
It's a family tradition that we make a list on the day after Thanksgiving of what we want for Christmas. (Why is it so hard to get men to tell you what they want?)

This wood block sign is for sale at my Etsy site.

2. Make gifts:
I'm working on several projects for gifts, which I can't post because it would spoil the surprise! But here's a project from the past to inspire you:

Recycled 2X4 signs:

That odd gray thing on the right is a sanding block.

Supplies: Weathered 2x4 blocks of wood - any size, wire brush, rasp, sandpaper or a foam sanding block, pencil and paper, acrylic paints, paint pens, brushes, spray varnish

I collect 2x4 end-pieces that are weathered and a little worn, and use them to make hand-painted decorative signs.

1. First clean up the recycled wood with a steel brush and a rasp. Be sure you don't leave any splinters or rough spots. Sand the board lightly.

2. Design your sign. I use an alphabet I made up that's a combination of "the Skinny" and a brush lettered font that I like. 

I draw out the word once with pencil on paper, then adjust it with marker, then write it directly on to the board. (You might prefer to use transfer paper, but it's not easy to transfer to a rough wood surface.)

3. It turned out here that I wanted to adjust the spacing a bit, so I just painted over the water-based marker and re-drew the letters with an acrylic paint pen. 

4. Then I painted around each letter with gradations of blue and green. Later I will go over the letters again with a black paint pen, and probably refine the colors.

3. Dessert gathering:

My family did not gather on thanksgiving as usual because we couldn't think of a way to make it safe and comfortable. But we decided we could meet outside for a short visit today to eat pie.