Holiday Magic Canvas Painting

Thanks to Plaid Crafts for sponsoring today’s post; all opinions are honestly my own.

Friends, if you’re looking for a fun and festive activity to do this holiday season, I’ve got just the thing for you…create this Holiday Magic canvas painting! It’s easier than you think, and you can create it with your kids, your friends, or all by yourself.

All you have to do is gather your supplies and watch the Plaid Crafts Paint Night tutorial!

Have you ever heard of or attended a local paint night event? I have, and I have to confess that while I absolutely LOVE the concept, they’re not my favorite things for a few reasons.

First, they’re expensive {and I’m cheap}. I’ve never heard of one costing less than $20 and some are as much as $40. I get that you’re paying for the teacher’s time, I really do. But I hate spending money.

Second, they provide low quality paint and only the primary colors. I hate that! Seriously. If I’m painting a palm tree, I don’t want to have to mix my own shades of green and brown. I never get the shade I want, plus, if I don’t mix enough and run out of paint, I’ll never make it exactly the same again! Did I mention I hate that?

Third, I have to put on real clothes and go out of the house at night. You may not relate to that one, but my fellow introverts are all, “yesssss, girl!”

Fourth, they go too fast. I like to take my time and make sure I do things just the way I want them instead of feeling rushed to keep up with the group’s pace. I get stressed out when I think I’m missing instruction or I’m a step behind.

So, when Plaid Crafts started doing their Facebook Live Paint Nights, I was all in! These video streams are everything that’s great about a paint party with none of the downsides! Check it out.

They’re totally free. You just buy your supplies {you probably have some of them already} and tune in on Facebook, either live or after the broadcast to paint along!

You use great paint in all the colors you want/need. FolkArt acrylic paints give great coverage, and you can use any shade or color you like.

You can paint in your pajamas. In your house. Where no one can see you.

You can pause, re-play, and re-watch the stream. If you’re behind, just stop watching and catch up later.

Sounds great, right? It totally is! Last night, Plaid shared their sixth Paint Night tutorial, and the instructor, Suzanne, shared how to make this gorgeous Holiday Magic painting. Here’s her example:

Little Crafter and I decided to make a date night of it, and we got ourselves all set up before the broadcast began. We covered the table with plastic, then set out our canvases, brushes, and paints. One bottle of each paint color was plenty for both of us to create canvases with some left over. I accidentally got the time mixed up and thought the live stream started at 7:00 PM instead of 7:30, so LC decided to read while we waited.

I fully intended to take pictures of our process while we painted, but honestly, we were so into it that I completely forgot. Suzanne walked us through the simple steps, starting with outlining a triangle where our tree would be, then creating the snow, painting the sky, making the “glow,” and finally painting and decorating the tree. Little Crafter’s favorite step was the “controlled splatter” snow, which you actually create by dipping your fingers in a mixture of paint and water and flicking them onto the canvas! He also enjoyed using the daubers to create ornaments…so much so that when Suzanne talked about signing your work, he decided to write his name with a dauber instead.

In just about an hour, we had two finished tree paintings! I absolutely love how mine turned out. I’m always a little intimidated when I see the sample projects because while I’m a lettering artist and a crafter, I’m not a trained decorative painter. However, the instructions are so simple and easy to follow that anyone can create something fabulous; no special skills or experience required!

One of the other things I love about the Paint Parties is that each person can customize the original design however they want. I made a few changes to the basic design Suzanne created to make the picture my own and create something that fit in with my decor. Here’s what I did differently…

I used FolkArt Metallics for my ornaments instead of the yellow, pink, and baby blue paint she used on the sample.

My Christmas decor is a combination of gold, silver, white, and red, so I used gold and silver paint for the ornaments on my tree. This way, the painting coordinates with the rest of my decorations. I also used white for the garland instead of red.

I added twinkling lights to my tree!

During the live stream, one of the participants made a comment suggesting that you could add some tiny lights. I loved that idea, so I used the end of my paintbrush to create tiny yellow dots. Then I used the technique Suzanne taught for the star to make it look like some of them were shining. I just pulled my angled brush across the dot horizontally and then vertically. Twinkling lights are my favorite part of a real Christmas tree, and I love the effect this gives to the painting!

I added hand lettering.

I know. You’re shocked. Honestly, though, if we’re making this personal, nothing quite says, “One Artsy Mama,” like hand lettering. I wrote “let it snow” using the faux calligraphy technique in gold. If you’re new to lettering, be sure to check out my basic lettering post for a simple how-to.

What do you think? I’m loving mine, and I’m super-proud of Little Crafter for his awesome work too! Both of these are on display in our house and I’m thinking of making a few more to give as gifts! Ready to create your own? Grab your supplies, then click play on the video at the bottom of the post!

For more information, stop by the Plaid Crafts Facebook page, and be sure to watch for information about upcoming Paint Parties in 2018! You can also share pictures of your projects with the hashtag #paintwithplaid. If you want to participate in any of the previous parties, you can watch them on demand; be sure to check out my personal favorites, the cactus, sunflowers, and pineapple projects! You might even see a familiar face in the cactus video…wink, wink. Happy painting, friends!

Holiday Magic Canvas Painting

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3 Comments

  1. Thank you so much for posting this! I’ve been wanting to do a holiday class with my daughter and this is just the perfect answer.

  2. Love love love both of your paintings! We recently painted along one of the previous Plaid Paint Nights to make Christmas gifts for Grandma (shh!). I’ll share after Christmas.

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