Tartan Lettering Holiday Home Decor DIY

I am IN LOVE with Chasity’s Holiday Home Decor project…that tartan lettering is so eye-catching and the snowy numbers with the iridescent and bright red watercolour inks look amazing!

Kelly Creates Supplies: Moonlight Marker, Dream Pens Set 2, Multicolor Small Brush Pen Set 2, Multicolor Fineliners, Black Fineliners, Deluxe Lettering Kit, Watercolor Paper Pad, Warm Watercolor Inks Set 1, Iridescent Watercolor Ink Set 3, Watercolor Lettering Brush, Fine Tip Waterbrush, Palette w/ Pipettes.

Other Supplies: Ribbon, Twine, Wood Frame, Paper Trimmer, Adhesive, Embellishments (snowflakes, bottle brush trees, pine branches from “Hey Santa” collection American Crafts)

Happy Holidays lettering friends! I hope that everyone is enjoying some relaxing lettering time this season! I know it can be a hectic season, but remember to take some time for you this season.

Today I wanted to share with you a fun tutorial that is simple to create and perfect for holiday home décor, gift giving and more! Everyone appreciates a handmade gift. I love making gifts for all the people on my list. I created this tutorial to encourage you to give the gift of your creativity this year!

I started the project with a piece of Kelly Creates Watercolor Paper. This paper is thick and is perfect for projects like this where you use watercolors and pens. I used the pencil, eraser and ruler from the Kelly Creates Deluxe Lettering Kit as well. I love how easily the pencil erases, because it usually takes me a while to figure out placement, and I need a few tries. I would like to say that I get it right the first time, but I really honestly never do!

I drew the number 25 with a pencil. I made these pretty large on my paper because I wanted them to be the same length as the word December. NOTE: It’s a good idea to sketch out your idea first on Kelly Creates Grid Practice Paper before you commit to the watercolour paper.

Next I drew wavy lines on top of the numbers to make it look like they are covered in snow. Then I erased the extra lines of the numbers under the snow.

Then I wrote the word “December” above it. I drew this like you would brush letter it, so it’s like a faux calligraphy. I drew a straight line with a ruler first to make sure that I was straight, even though I bounced the letters slightly. Light lines are my best friend as I tend to write uphill without them. Once you get the design the way you want it, it’s time to outline!

I used Kelly Creates Black Fineliners for all of the outlining. I love these pens because they are waterproof, dry quickly and don’t smudge when you erase the pencil lines! For the “25” I used the 05 Black Fineliner. For the word December, I outlined with the 03.

Now it is time to bring out the watercolors! I used the Poppy ink from the Warm set 1 and the Iridescent that is bundled with the White and Black watercolor Set 3. This is the perfect accent for snow to add some sparkle and shine.

I also used Kelly Creates Palette and Watercolor Lettering brushes. The brushes are just the right size to add watercolor to small areas. I started by wetting the inside of the letters with just water.

Then I added some Kelly Creates Poppy watercolor ink to the top of the letter, avoiding the snow area. This technique allowed me to create an ombre gradient of colour from the top to bottom of the numbers, darker on top and lighter on the bottom. You can also paint the numbers bright red without the ombre look.

Repeat this step for the number 5. You can also use Kelly’s water brush pens to create an ombre with the watercolour ink too.

Next, I coloured in the word December with the Kelly Creates Multicolor Small Brush Pen, Hibiscus, when the numbers were dry. (You could also colour with the Kelly Creates Red Fineliner or bullet tip pen).Be careful not to touch the wet numbers. You can use watercolor here too, but I had a little more control with the pen for the smaller spaces. Here is what is so great about Kelly’s line… everything can mix and match! The watercolor ink matches the pens! You really can’t tell that I used pens and watercolors because they work so well together. I love that her products take the guesswork out. I can just create knowing everything will coordinate nicely.

Now that the watercolor numbers were nice and dry, I filled in the “snow” with the iridescent watercolor ink to add some shine! It’s hard to see in photos, but this added just the right touch to the piece and the paper does not warp at all.

Just look at the twinkle it adds to the snow!

Now, moving on to learning the technique of the tartan letters. I have a thing for buffalo plaid. Give me all the plaid. I have also noticed a huge trend in plaid this holiday season in décor. I wanted to create lettering that looked like buffalo plaid.

Using my small ruler from the Kelly Creates Deluxe Lettering Kit and the Kelly Creates Black 03 Fineliner, I drew lines in my letters and created stripes that I colored in with my pen.  This can be done without a ruler, but I found using the ruler gave me straighter lines and a much steadier hand.

Continue making the horizontal stripes equally spaced all the way down the word December.

Then, using Kelly’s 01 Black Fineliner, draw horizontal lines in between the stripes. Use the ruler if you need to for straighter lines.

Next, turn the ruler vertical and using the same 01 Fineliner, draw vertical lines through the letters to create the plaid effect! This is a fun, easy technique that you can use on any letter style to make a tartan pattern.

I wanted to add a small shadow to “December” and the “25”. For the 2 and 5, I used the Black Fineliner 05 and drew where the shadow should be if the light source was at the top of the numbers. Then I filled them in with the same Fineliner Pen.

For the word December, I used the smaller brush tip on the Kelly Creates Dream Pen ‘Stone’ and created a shadow so it would pop off the page more.

Then I finished repeating the same step on the 5 and my shadows were created.

Finally, I wanted to add a few specs of snow to the numbers, so using the Kelly Creates Moonlight Marker, I added a few dots to the numbers to look like snowflakes! I just used the tip of the marker to create a small dot.

Now that your work is complete, you can decide what you would like to do with it! This would be a really cute Christmas card, it would be great accent on a scrapbooking layout… there are so many projects you can make with this.

Here is a free printable template for you to use! Click HERE or the image below to download.

I decided to make mine into a home décor gift! I bought an inexpensive frame and cut the paper down to a 6” x 6” square. I added a few paper crafting embellishments and made this into a fun gift that can be used as décor year after year!

Give this technique a try, and gift someone you love the creative part of you this holiday season! I promise they will treasure it! We would love to see what you create, be sure to share it with us too!

Hope everyone has a safe and Healthy holiday, and see all of you in 2021!

Where are Kelly Creates art supplies sold? Around the world…click here to search for stores in your area.

Shop the supplies Chasity used in KellyCreatesStore.com or click the images below: