The Grinch

Then he got an idea! An awful idea!
The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea!

Our neighbour broke his feet falling off a ladder while hanging Christmas lights. Recovery was slow and painful. That's what started me thinking about alternatives to going up ladders in the winter - yet still having the house look Christmas-y. This Grinch cutout was not only a great solution, he makes me laugh every time I look at him.

I’ve always loved the Grinch. Now I  have my very own. The idea is that he holds all the Christmas lights in his hand as if he had just stolen them. Bonus: no ladders are involved.


If you're thinking of doing this - and why wouldn't you? - here's how I did it.

I splurged $17 on the pattern from a fellow in Edmonton, Doug’s Woodcraft and Patterns. I’m glad I did. I followed Doug’s instructions and it turned out great. 

He recommends using carbon paper to transfer the pattern, but I didn't have any. I experimented with two ways to transfer the pattern - chalk and lead pencil. They both worked.

Turn the pattern face down. You should be able to see the lines of the pattern through the paper. In the picture below, the pattern is an "S" shape.

Using chalk (or lead pencil), scribble over the pattern lines on the reverse side of the pattern. When you place the pattern on the wood, chalk side down, you can trace over the pattern and the chalk will act as carbon paper. Faint chalk or lead lines  will transfer onto the wood. Trace over these chalk lines with a pencil or pen to make the pattern permanent on the wood.

The "s" shape is the pattern on the other side. I shaded in with chalk or pencil along the pattern lines. When this side goes down against the wood, the pattern can be easily traced onto the wood.

Paul, being Paul, insisted on using good quality plywood with a top surface of paper so I didn’t have to do any sanding between coats of paint. It was a brilliant idea - it made the project much more enjoyable for me.

Paul also cut out the pattern with his jigsaw. He is much more patient and detail-oriented than I and this step was critical to our success.

If you look carefully, you can see that there's some blue chalk from the transfer process.

Once it was cut out, I did a primer layer of white.

For the paint, I went to the local hardware store and bought three pots of those tester paints you can get for around five bucks each. I thought there were only interior testers, but exterior are also available. The good news is I don't have a gallon of bright green paint in my garage for the next 20 years. 

The paint guy helped me pick the colours and they were perfect. Red, green and black. When a random woman walked by and said, “Oh, Grinch colours” I knew I was on a roll.

I happened to have a can of yellow paint lying around. Why? No idea. And for the white, I used the white exterior primer that's been sitting in my garage for a few years. The back and edges are painted black.

A couple of coats of paint and a Varathane finish for protection - and voila!

It was too hard to cut the detail out between the hat and the tassel. We were afraid the tassel would be too weak. I painted the wood between the hat and tassel black and you can't even tell the wood is not cut out.

It took me a few days to make - mostly because I had to wait for coats of paint to dry - but it was so much more fun than schlepping that ladder around the house or falling off it.