Vintage Sign and Artwork Tutorial

Click images to enlarge!

I've been inspired to make some vintage looking, do it yourself artwork and wall decor. I was inspired by a little bit of this (Home and Harmony) and a little bit of that that (lil blu boo's vintage sign tutorial). I found these adorable little canvases at Michael's Arts and Crafts store for only one dollar each! What a steal. As soon as I saw them, I immediately thought how easy it would be to paint right over the drawings and make something more sophisticated with them. Brilliant, right? Sometimes you can turn unexpected things into great decorations. I love these discoveries! 


And I love this project. I promise, it's easy and fun! Also you can adapt this concept or directions to fit any kind of vintage sign or artwork. 

What you need:
Canvas or wood to paint on
Newspaper or phonebook paper
Sandpaper
Gel medium or Modge Podge (or homemade modge podge)
Paint brushes
Paint colors for background and font
Dark brown painted slightly watered down or a wood stain
Optional: graphite paper, stylus, and print out of the words you will trace (or you can use stencils or free hand)

First, use modge podge or gel medium and layer on your newspaper. Press down wrinkles and bubbles, but don't worry about them too much. This is what gives the canvas a beautiful texture! Don't go for perfection either. Remember you're trying to make these look old and vintage.


When they're completely dry, paint over them. I used two coats of antique ivory. You can use any colors you want for this project! I just happened to already have an antique kit on hand. 


Next, hand sand the edges and corners. I just sanded enough that the phone book paper could show through, but you can sand as much or as little as you would like. You can't tell it's phone book paper--it just looks like newspaper. And it looks cool! Wipe off the sand paper dust with a dry cloth.


Now you're read for the staining process. This is optional. You may or may not like the effect, but I like it. Take either your wood stain or your slightly watered down brown paint and brush a few strokes onto your canvas. Immediately wipe off with a damp towel. Repeat this process until you've covered the surface of the canvas. Don't over think this step. Just brush on, and wipe off. Repeat to get the desired shade of stain you prefer. I prefer doing this process only once over my pieces. It looks vintage and distressed enough for my taste.

 

Next you will take your stencil or graphite paper and transfer the letters onto your painted and stained canvases. I printed words from my computer/printer and used my stylus to transfer the graphite onto the canvas. See above. Then I painted black over the graphite to create a nice bold font. I used American Typewriter font. Like I said before, you can also trace stencils and paint in your letters. 

Finally, when the letters are dry, take a clean dry paint brush and brush a layer of modge podge or gel medium over the surface and sides of the canvases. Let dry. You're done!!

See more pictures below of my completed vintage sign artwork.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galations 5:22-23

Happy crafting!

DIY: Butterfly Wall Art

Remember the butterfly craze of the 90's? Well, the craze is making a comeback in my house! I've always had a thing for butterflies. Actually, they really are making comeback in the fashion and retail world. I've been seeing them everywhere. Dresses with the classic 1990's butterfly print and butterfly accessories, stationary, etc. So I posted a while back about a butterfly specimen shadow box I fabricated. Well today brings more butterflies!! It's a good thing we have an extra room that functions as both my office/creative space and as a guest room, otherwise my husband's and my bedroom might turn into this girly, whimsically silly, cheesy place full of butterflies. Instead I can adorn this room with all the butterflies I want. OK, I sound like I've gotten out of hand, but I haven't, not yet at least.

Take a look at these GREAT butterflies I found at Michael's Arts and Crafts. Only $1.50 for each 4 pack of butterflies. They are made out of colorful thin flimsy plastic, and each has a magnet attached to the back. You can pretty much do anything crafty you can imagine with these things!

I've had my eye on these decorative Umbra brand flower and dragonfly wall art push pins, but they're out of my budget for now! However, when I saw these colorful butterflies in Michael's I thought, Hey, I could attach those to a thumb tack and create my own Umbra-like wall art. Genius! And that's exactly what I did:

Here are some pictures of them up on the wall. Now, my camera is mediocre just like my photography skills, so I'm not sure if the coolness of what I did really translates. Just trust me, it's awesome! They pop out at you and look like they are in flight. They just make me happy.

And just for fun, here's a few of my favorite office/creative space necessities:

The butterfly craze of the 2010's is here to stay! As always, thanks for checking out my blog. :)

DIY Book Shelf Revamp

So the other night I hung out at a girl friend’s house for the first time, and it was like stepping right into Pinterest.com. Everywhere I looked was something fabulous she created or painted or whatever. I kept wishing I could “pin it” and pin that and pin this, etc. Her blog is The lovelies of being Ms. Fitz. Her home and blog totally inspired me to work on some craft projects I’ve been dreaming about, but haven’t had any time or energy.

Then today as I sat around like a lazy bum in my pajamas, having had just woken up about an hour before, the Nate Berkus Show came on. OK, if you know the show, you know it comes on at 2pm PST. So, you do the math about what time I had finally rolled out of bed. Alright, so I sat there, with Nate Berkus to the left and my hideous eye-sore of a book shelf to the right (see hideous book shelf in photo below), and he was talking about sprucing up book shelves. It was fate, or perhaps just serendipity. Maybe Nate Berkus brainwashed me; I don’t know.

All I know is that I was envious, wishing I could do all these fun projects, and wishing I could just blog for a living and get paid to do crafts. But then I remembered I’ve spent the last 7 years in college to become an English teacher, so I’m not going to give that up for crafts, duh. That’s when it hit me. Crap, I only have 2 more days of spring break left!! And that completely bummed me out because it’s gone by too fast and now I want to craft, dang it!! So I did what any other sane person would: got dressed, brushed my teeth, went shopping for supplies to beautify this stupid built-in book shelf that my house is stuck with, and pulled an all-nighter. I’m not kidding. It’s 6:30am, and I never went to bed tonight, I mean last night…

And now, the moment you've been waiting for. I give you the before and afters of this hugely successful do-it-yourself bookshelf revamp. Enjoy!

All you need for a similar project is primer, 2 paint colors, a great stencil, and brushes, of course. I also bought these letters and painted them black. Simple, easy, inexpensive do-it-yourself projects! So much cuter, right!?

P.S. it's a little more green than blue in person. In fact, the color is Valspar's "Field of Pines." 

 

If you know me, you know I love refinishing and painting over shelves and furniture, and now this is my new favorite piece! Let me know what you think. The sun is rising and the birds are chirping. It's a brand new day. Thanks for reading. 

Happy crafting! :)

Photo Banner and Canvas Frame

Hi lovely craft people,
Here's a new take on the "banner" craze. Simply whole punch 4x6 or 5x7 photos, thread with ribbons, find a cute place to hang it, and done!

Lately I've been into deconstructing canvases (that I had partially painted on, or just some of my bad art work from my early college years, haha). I just take off the canvas part and instantly I have something new to create. I paint the frame, add some wire, or what not, and I have a great new piece of wall art/decoration.

Here's something I whipped up tonight--super quickly and easily--and now it hangs in my dining room. It's not quite done, but I'm still brainstorming what the final thing should look like. But I do LOVE the photo banner of my last name.

Any ideas for me?

I'm thinking of adding wire and clothes pinning recipes that I'll print on cutesy scrapbook paper. Perfect for the dining room / kitchen area. Could be cute. I'll post follow-up pictures when I can!

Here's another one I did a while back. It hands over our bed and I love seeing it (and our wedding photos) every time I walk into my room:

Happy crafting! :)

Pictures of My First Quilt

Hi people! It's been a while since posting. I'm teaching now (and finishing the credential program), and it consumes every bit of my life! But I love teaching. Lesson planning has become my creative outlet these days. Anyway, I had forgotten to follow up with pictures of my finished quilt. This is my first ever quilt! It was one of the biggest creative challenges I've taken on, but it was worth all the time and energy! I got the inspiration to make this quilt from the magazine pictured above (left). It's a Bonnie Blue Quilts design and was featured in the December 2011 issue of Quilt Magazine. It's beautiful! And in my eyes, my quilt turned out beautifully as well. Enjoy the pictures. :) 

DIY Transform Your Old Jars With Glass Paint

DIY Transform Your Old Jars With Glass Paint

I describe this look as country romantic. There is such an understated beauty with these new transformed jars! Check out more pictures below.

All you need is a bunch of random old jars, any shape or size.

Soak in hot water for a few minutes and scrape off the stickers. Use Goo-Gone to wipe away any remaining sticky residue. Then wash wish dish soap and let thoroughly dry.

Next grab clear gloss enamel glass paint in any color you prefer from your local craft store (Michael's Arts and Crafts) and paint the outside of the jar with 2-3 coats. One coat looks nice, but two coats is even prettier. Paint to your liking. Some of my jars have 2 coats and some have 3.

Let dry about 10 minutes or more between coats! Be patient. If you paint a second coat too soon, the paint starts to ball up (learned from experience). 

Then grab some tea light candles and light them up inside the jars. You can also use them as flower vases or whatever you can imagine!

This is such a simple, quick, and inexpensive project. Anyone can do this and feel proud of their new creative DIY table decorations! 

Decorate for dinner parties, backyard BBQs, weddings, baby showers, whatever! Have fun!

Sweet Cake Batter Bark

Easy-to-make Sweet Cake Batter Bark 


Here's the recipe and how-to:
- About 6 ounces dark chocolate, milk, or semi-sweet (whatever you like)
- About 12 ounces white chocolate
- 3-4 teaspoons yellow cake mix (or more, you really can't go wrong adding more)
- sprinkles of your choice (at least 3 tablespoons worth or more)

What to do:
Melt dark chocolate either in a double boiler (or makeshift double boiler--Google how to do it; it's easy). Do NOT melt in microwave, no matter what any other blog says!!


Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Pour chocolate onto foil. You can smooth it with a spatula to the thickness you desire. Stick in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Melt white chocolate in double boiler, while whisking in cake mix slowly, stirring well until no lumps remain. 


Remove baking sheet with chocolate from the freezer and immediately pour white chocolate on top. Decorate with sprinkles immediately. Freeze for 20 minutes.

Once set, break into chunks and eat it. 


Easiest thing you'll ever make. I adapted these directions and got the idea from How Sweet It Is blog. Check it out! Great blog :)