DIY Vintage Sheet Music Christmas Decor
I love Christmas carols. I really, really love them. And by Christmas carols, I mean hymns. (My favourite, by far, is O Come, O Come Emmanuel, which was written over 1000 years ago. Isn’t that amazing that we are still singing today a song from that long ago?) Like my Grandfather before me, I can often be found humming Christmas songs year round, for just as the Ghost of Christmas Present says in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, “We Spirits of Christmas do not live only one day of the year. We live the whole three-hundred and sixty-five. So is it true of the Child born in Bethlehem. He does not live in men’s hearts one day of the year, but in all days of the year.”
So on that note (pun definitely intended!) when I saw some cute Christmas hymn “artwork” blocks for sale in a shop a few years ago, my first thought was, “I love that” and my second thought was, “I could make that”. I didn’t make one right away, since I didn’t really have a place to put it, but I now have a display shelf so it was about time to try and see if I actually could make this craft (or if I was going to regret having not bought one).
Firstly, I had to get some sheet music. I have two vintage hymnals, so I scanned two songs. I ended up going with Hark, The Herald Angels Sing because I liked the font more. However, I have added both of the printables here so you can use either one or both if you’d like to try this craft. The artwork is 6″ x 8″, since that was the size of the hymn pages, but there isn’t a border, so if you print it on 8.5″ x 11″ paper, you can make your margin as wide or narrow as you like.
hark the herald angels sing sheet music printable
o come o come emmanuel sheet music printable
I tried several kinds of paper, but 60 lb cardstock worked the best as it didn’t wrinkle and bubble. I tried a couple of other methods, one using linen textured copy paper wrapped around a thick chipboard/cardboard, but it wrinkled terribly when I applied the topcoat of Mod Podge. I also tried printing an “antiqued” background, but wasn’t in love with the colour. So in the end, I simply used cream coloured cardstock and printed the sheet music on it.
Once you have printed your hymn, it is time to figure out what you want to use as your base. I had a piece of 5/8″ thick wood left over from a project, and cut it to size with a chop saw. I used an offcut of wood because it was free, but I originally was going to use one of those wooden canvas style boards they sell at the dollar store. I also plan to make another one of these for my sister and I am going to use craft chipboard (also from the dollar store) so it will be a bit thinner. Regardless of which material you use, it will be the same method. After you’ve cut your piece of wood or chipboard, make sure to sand it smooth.
Next, hold your paper with the hymn printed on it up to the light and centre it on the board. Once you’ve got it evenly spaced all around, then carefully lay it down and trace a line around the board. Cut the paper using a paper cutter or straight edge and knife. This way, you won’t end up with crooked placement.
Now it’s time to paint the board. If you print your hymn on white paper, this might be easier, but since mine was printed on cream coloured cardstock, I had to do a custom colour mix. It turned out a little bit more yellow than I needed it to be, so I did a couple of coats to get it just right. I painted both sides of the board so the wood will be sealed, but since only the edges of the board are going to show, I did just one coat of white on the face of the board.
Once the paint is dry, sand it smooth again with fine grit sandpaper (and do a little touch up if you sand through the corner!)
Brush a good layer of Mod Podge over the face of the board, making sure to completely coat the board. Working quickly, place your artwork evenly on top. Using either your hand or an ink brayer, smooth the artwork from the centre out to the edge so there are no bubbles. Wipe off any Mod Podge that seeps out and then place a book on top to weight it and let it dry.
Once it is dry, using fine sandpaper, sand around the edges to soften the paper line. If you need to do any paint touch ups (again I sanded through in one spot!) put the paint on your finger and lightly dab it, rather than using a brush.
Now, to age the paper, I used some brown antiquing ink. Again, rather than rubbing the ink straight onto the paper, I put ink on my finger and then lightly rubbed it around the edges and across the corners for a softer “aged” look. Once you are pleased with the look, you are ready to topcoat.
Now for the final step, coat the top and sides with Mod Podge. Work quickly to get the Mod Podge across the paper and then go over one final time to even out the brushstrokes. Don’t go over it too many times or you will start to get ink runs. I started to get ink bleeding in one spot.
Once the Mod Podge is dry, your Christmas hymn decoration is done! You can style it sitting on a shelf, like I did, or attach hardware to the back if you want to hang it on your wall. You could also put tiny eye hooks on the top and string a ribbon through to hang it from.
And now, for one final tip: if you want to make this decoration dual purpose, you can print off an Easter hymn and decoupage it to the back of the board, so you can flip the board and use it for two holidays! This was my mom’s idea, which I am definitely going to do; I just haven’t decided yet which hymn to use.
Have you made many Christmas crafts this year? What is your favourite Christmas carol?
Edited this post to add this picture of my sister’s hymn, below, which she hung from a velvet ribbon.
Ps. and here’s a sneak peak of how I decorated this shelf for Christmas, which I will be sharing in my next post….
