It's Dangerous to Christmas Alone

*quick note - I realize it's not Christmas anymore, but I neglected to finish the '12 days of Geekmas' series until now. So... sorry for the delay'

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me - a Legend of Zelda Christmas frame... because it's dangerous to Christmas alone!

Wanting to finish off the 12 Days of Geekmas with one of my favorite IP's, I made a Legend of Zelda frame, with a Christmas-y twist!

Here's how I put it together

Materials I used: (with affiliate links)

3/4 plywood board

1/4" x 1" trim

Chalkboard paint - https://amzn.to/3cZsEw7

Acrylic paint pens - https://amzn.to/2rct0fO

Minwax espresso stain - https://amzn.to/2LrLSRc

Micro Sander - https://amzn.to/2KszX46

Tools I used:

Inkscape

K40 laser cutter - https://amzn.to/2rct0fO

Vinyl weeding hook - https://amzn.to/33bUiS1

Pull saw - https://amzn.to/2TKj88f

Miter saw - https://amzn.to/2UQPZX0

I found some reference pictures to the classic "it's dangerous to go alone, take this!", as well as a pixelated Santa and Christmas present, and brought them into Inkscape.

For the background I used the 'trace bitmap' function to get the rocks that serve as the boarder. Using the pen tool I started tracing the trees, Santa, Link, and the present from the reference pictures I gathered, then started overlaying them on the reference picture as I completed them.

Using the text tool, I experimented with different 8bit fonts till I found one that closely matched the original font, and spelled out the holiday message.

I took my 3/4" plywood board and painted it black, then covered it with some painters tape before putting it in the laser cutter (this will minimize burned edges and give a cleaner line - also helps when painting later)

I imported the design I made in Inkscape into my laser cutting program (I use K40 whisper) and set the laser to work.

Breaking out the paint pens, I started to paint the engraved areas. I first painted the rock border, then the lettering.

Using the hook, I removed bits of the painters tape and painted as I went. Removing a portion at a time from each of the different elements helped any type of bleeding and kept the paint lines straight.

I measured a uniform area around the rock border, then cut the board to size.

Taking the 1/4" trim pieces, I measured them against the board, and then used the miter saw to cut the edges to 45 degrees.

I took the edge pieces I cut and glued them together with the board, clamping it all together while the glue dried.

Once dry, I cleaned up the edges of the frame, and then used the stain to add color to the frame.

To finish it off, it was just a matter of removing all the tape. The weeding hook came in handy when removing the tape from the smaller areas and around the lettering.

With it all done, I could hang this project with geeky holiday pride, bringing joy to both Legend of Zelda fans and Christmas fans alike.