Sticker Canvas Board Word Art

I have the best Aunt in the entire world. She goes out of her way to make others happy and she's done more for me than I can say. She also loves wine. I saw a canvas board with a wine saying on it and I knew that I wanted to make one for her.

This is a super simple project that doesn't even really require a post, but I figured I've been lacking on posts lately so I would make one. I've made something like this before, but I used foam letters.You can see that post here.

Supplies: 1. Paint for your choice. 2. White paint (optional) for touch ups. 3. Stick letters (I used 2 in. letters). 4. Canvas board

Place letters any way you'd like on your canvas board. In order to keep my letters even I went back and fourth between the top words and bottom to make sure I'd have enough space.

Next, paint your canvas board. I did about 2 coats with a few touch ups here and there. I also want over the letters with white paint because I'm a messy painter!

Then you're done!

Framed Map Silhouettes

I made this piece a while ago and put it on my Tumblr, but I decide to move it over and put it on this blog. I wish I had an entire picture tutorial to show, but I don't.

Anyways, I started off with two oval frames with these ugly (but kind of cute) duck pictures in it. I didn't take a picture of the frames ahead of time, but they were gold and ugly. That's all you really need to know. I have kind of an obsession with frames and spray painting them so when I bought these frames I really had no idea what to do with them.

Not only do I love painting frames, but I also love silhouettes. I decided that was what I wanted to put in these frames. I've seen silhouette's like this around the web and new I wanted to do something along these lines. I searched Pinterest for ideas and came across like the one I used. I used Microsoft Word to make the picture big enough to fit into the space.

It was kind of awkward because they were holding hands in the picture so when I cut it out I kind of messed it up, but it was okay because it was covered by the frame.
**Hint: Be careful about what silhouettes you use! You have the advantage because you know what the original looked like. Try looking at your new piece with a new set of eyes. You may be surprised that it doesn't look like what you had thought.

After cutting out the silhouettes I traced them onto a map and then cut them out. Again you have to be very careful here because you don't want too much ocean. Unless you do, then forget I said anything! :)

I then used black origami paper for the back ground. I glued it onto the ducks and then cut off the extra sides. I then placed my figures on the black and used the frames to see how they would look. When I officially decided how I wanted them to be placed I glued them onto the black paper.

Then when the frames we dried I put it all together and it turned out like the picture below!

DIY Rotating Goal List

I got this idea to make a rotating goal list and the design for it from Rachel at Cornflower Blue. I obviously changed things up a bit to fit my own needs.

What you need:

• Frame
• Thick paper (I used sketchbook paper but I would just suggest something that won't fade over time)
• Sharpie marker (or regular black marker)
• Fine tip sharpie marker
• pencil
• Sticky notes for outline
• scissors (optional)
• ruler (optional)

I started out by measuring the paper and cutting it out to fit inside the frame. I then eyed where I wanted the squares to lie and traced an outline with the sticky note pack. I then made a box on the top for the title and the date.

Once I was finished with that I erased all my pencil lines (make sure the sharpie dried on the paper). I then added some more designs and hung it on my wall. Lastly, I put in my goals for this week!

I chose to use a frame because it looked cool and I can use the glass to write with dry erase markers. I figured if I used sticky notes that would be a waste of paper, plus they don't stick to the glass.

I put it right next to my door so I would be sure to see it! 

Paint Chip Art

This is a pretty simple and cute DIY piece. I saw this tutorial on Pinterest months ago and had wanted to make it, but I kind of forgot about it until I saw that my friend Mollie had made it. She even bought this craft punch to do it, which I ended up buying as well because I have other ideas to use the craft punch for and it saved me loads of time!

What you need: 

• Frame - I bought two at Ikea for $9.99 each
• Glue - I used rubber cement but you can use whatever adhesive you want, but I would suggest something that does not cause paper to wrinkle
• Lots of paint chip samples
• Pencil
• Scissors or craft punch

After cutting out the paint chips I used the mat board to trace the size of the area I would use. I then brushed some glue on and lined up the first paint chip on it halfway through the pencil line. I then repeated all the way through lining up the paint chips next to each other.

I didn't have any pattern in mind. I just picked up random paint chips as I went. I did have them organized in piles, but that was only to make it easier for me to see which colors I didn't use. 

Once I reached the bottom I was done! Remember to check too make sure nothing is inside the frame because yesterday when I made the first one I found a ton of specks in it and had to keep removing the picture. Now I just have to find a nice place to hang the one on the right!

DIY Chalk Boards

Sorry I haven't been updating for a while. My life hasn't been too interesting. However, there is something about being home in Cleveland that makes me extra crafty, plus I made one of the gifts I made my sister. So, here we go!

I made chalk boards. The one I made my sister was just a plain chalk board and the one I made myself has a cork board cut out of the United States. Now, the only reason I gave myself the United States cut out was because I didn't know how it would turn out and I didn't want to screw up her gift!

First, I took some ugly old pictures we had.

For the duck picture it was really hard to take out the glass, and while I was doing so I broke it, which ruined my plan of using chalk board paint on it. After I cleaned off the frames (they were covered in cob webs and dust) I spray painted them.

Then I spray painted the glass with chalkboard paint which I bought at Michaels, but I also saw it at Walmart.

**Note even when it doesn't look like it's windy somehow the newspapers you put down will find its way onto the wet paint. Haha Then for the United States I found this pattern from Lowes. For some reason the link isn't working anymore.The pattern was created to come out on 4 separate sheets, but that was way too big for my small frame, so I put the printer settings on 2 pages per sheet.

I cut out the map and taped it onto the cork board. I then outlined it with a sharpie. I also outlined Alaska. I left Hawaii alone because it was too small and ended up free handing it. The Alaska outline actually came from the 1 page per sheet because it was much larger. I used a box cutter and Xacto knife to cut it out. It is a long tedious process. It probably took me 3 hours to cut out.

I bought foam board from Staples for the frame whose glass I broke. I wanted something sturdier than poster board and something less bumpy than cardboard. It is really easy to cut with a box cutter when you get the size you need. I spray painted it with chalkboard paint and put it all together. The finished products! :)