Starry Night Christmas Nativity Sign, with Royal Design Studio Stencils

When I was looking at their holiday stencils I fell in love with the Starry Night Christmas Stencil.  I had visions of a huge framed starry night hanging over my little nativity set and thought, “Why Not!?”

So, I got right to work.

The first thing I needed was wood for my sign.  I happened to have a huge piece that was given to me that was 1/2 inch thick.  As I was cutting it I realized that I could make this sign just like my “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” Pottery Barn knock off Sign but bigger.

It was pretty rough plywood, and since it was free, I decided I could take a little time to “skim coat” it with spackle to make it smooth.  Then I sanded it once it dried.  I am so glad I did this, it made a huge difference.  If you buy nice plywood you can skip this step, I am just cheap. 🙂

For my starry night backdrop I needed a dark blue/gray background.  As luck would have it I happened to have the perfect color that I had gotten from Home Depot’s oops section.  Sa-weet!

I also used two 1×2 furring strips that I cut to frame out the sign, and pre conditioned and stained them with Rustoleum’s Kona.

After the plywood was painted with two coats I grabbed my stencils.  I also got the Love Joy Peace Lettering Christmas Stencil because it was perfect for the idea I had in mind.  I cut scrap pieces of 1/4 plywood to the size of each word.  Then I sanded and painted them the same color as my starry night board.

I loved the look of the Silver and Gold with the blue/gray background that they showed online, so I decided to do the same colors.  Using a stencil brush with the metallic paints I had on hand, I started stenciling.

Now, I have done a lot of stenciling, and these stencils are some of the best I have ever used!  I was worried about bleeding with these stars, but I didn’t have a problem at all.  As long as my brush was dry, and I loaded and unloaded the paint, it went on easily and perfectly.  I also liked how easy they were to line up.  I can see this stencil going on a wall super quickly, hmmm I may have to try that!

For the lettering I just held the stencils in place.  So easy!  Cleaning was really simple with a sponge and some water.  They are just good quality all around.  I am totally using them again.

With my stencil finished I used my gorilla wood glue and nail gun to attach the 1×2 frame.  Since I wanted the plywood to float in the middle of the frame I used a scrap piece of plywood under to hold it where I needed it (see top left photo).  This thing is HUGE, 72 inches wide and 26 inches high.

I wanted a “new star” for my nativity so I looked in my stash and found this perfect wooden round that I had gotten at the Restore for 25 cents.  I painted it the same gray/blue and then stenciled on a gold star, and then a silver on top.  I was planning to cut a bigger star out of wood and paint it, but my time ran away from me…I will have to get to it later, hopefully. 🙂