DIY Wood Etched Glitter Garland

I’ve noticed my Christmas decorating has begun to turn more to the rustic side, with a touch of sparkle, so I decided to continue that theme this year and created a really cool Wood Etched Glitter Garland for my tree!  I’m joining a creative group of bloggers today for a Trim the Tree blog hop, so be sure to click through to all the links at the bottom of this post for tons of inspiration for trimming your own tree this year!

Wood etching has been on my list of craft techniquest to try for quite a while, so I finally picked up a wood etching tool and tried it on some cork circles.  The results were nothing short of fabulous!

The wood etching tool was purchased at Michael’s for around $30 and came with 4 different tips.  For this craft, since the lettering has a large boxed area, I opted for the chiseled tip.  I also picked up a bag of 2″ cork circles and grabbed some glitter in various colors.

First, I printed out my letters – my words are “Love”, “Hope”, “Joy”, and “Peace”.  I used Microsoft Word, created a text box to the dimensions I wanted (in this case, I chose 1.5″ text box since my cork circles are 2″), then typed each letter and printed it out.

I cut each letter individually so I could etch them into the cork.

If you’ve never tried wood etching before, it’s pretty simple, but it does take some patience, just to adjust to using the new tool.  This is what the etching looks like on a completed leter.  I used the smaller edge of the chisel tip to outline the letter, then used the wider edge to fill it in.

To create the curves on letters like “P” and “O”, I found that it was easiest to just add dots with my wood etching tool, then go back and create the solid line after removing my paper template.

To make sure each template stayed in place while I etched, I used a short thumb tack to attach each letter to the cork.  If I were doing this on wood, tape would have been sufficient.

After all the letters were etched into the cork, they looked like this:

They almost look like cuts of a wide tree branch, which I love.

I wanted to jazz them up a bit, though, so I grabbed my glitter and got to work on the edges.

I rolled each cork circle in glue, then rolled it in glitter and set aside to dry.  Each word is rolled in a different color glitter.

I hot glued twine onto the back of each circle to attach them together to create the garland.

Ta-Da!  I love the final result, and cannot wait to see it on our tree this year!  The lettering on cork is the perfect rustic touch, while the glitter picks up the sparkle in our Christmas lights.

Of course I couldn’t resist an opportunity to take the requisite blogger’s-feet-on-the-floor picture.  😉

You can really see the sparkle bouncing off the glitter!

I don’t put up our Christmas tree until the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I’m anxious to see it hanging!  It might even end up on my old barn ladder that hangs on the living room wall – I can’t decide!

Check out all these other fabulous ways to DIY Trim Your Tree!

Have you started decorating for the Holidays?  Over 35 of your favorite bloggers have come together to share their fun and festive ideas.  From Ornaments to Tree Skirts,  you are sure to be inspired by all of these amazing homemade ideas to Trim the Tree! 

1. Advent Calendar Pocket 

2. Polymer Clay Poinsettia

3. Yarn Wrapped Ornament 

4.  Vintage Green Paper Ornament

5. Trim the Tree Garland

6. Ribbon Stuffed Ornaments

7.  Wooden Star Ornament

8. Melted Snowman Ornament

9. Felt Christmas Tree

10.  Santa Star Ornament

1. Vintage Map Ornament

2. Yarn Joy Ornament

3.  Embossed Wood Bird Ornament

4. Snow Man Wood Slice Ornament

5. Christmas Garland

6. Tree Skirt for under $20

7.  Star Painted Ornament

8. Neon Christmas Tree Topper

9. Wooden Spool Christmas Tree

1. Gingerbread Cookie Ornament

2.  Wood Etched Cork Garland

3. Bow Christmas Tree Garland

4. Travel Map Ornaments

5. Homemade Glitter Ornaments

6. Felt Candy Ornaments

7. Make Love Ornament

8. How to Decorate your Tree like a Pro

9.  Joy Ornament

10. Glitter Pinecone Ornament

1. Scented Gingerbread Ornament

2. Diy Tree Skirt

3. Pinecone Decorative Tree

4.  Wood Slice Ornament

5. Wood Slice Child Silhouette Ornament

6. Tips for Decorating the Christmas Tree

7. Mason Jar Lid Ornament

8. Gold Basket Weave Ornament

9. Rustic Christmas Tree Garland

10. Starfish Christmas Ornaments