striped tape from oh happy day shop & cute elephant print from Fox Hollow Design on etsy.
Last week I was on Pinterest and came across my favorite Harry Potter quote for the 700th time. This time it was inspiring enough - we're currently in the middle of making some big decisions that feel life-changing - that I immediately got to work translating it to canvas.
It was just a few minutes into naptime and so I knew if I wanted to use the time effectively, it was going to mean making something out of what I had on hand. And what I had (in the garage) were some old painted canvases and (in my office) some label paper. This project would work awesome with letter stickers (but I've done that) and label paper would also be perfect for printing out a block font and cutting (but that involved sitting at my computer) and so I decided to just freehand cut the letters and see how it turned out.
It turned out to be pretty quick to cut the letters (not my first freehand letter rodeo) and they miraculously fit well on the canvas. Because of the label paper, I could just stick them right down. We had some while wall paint in the garage and so that's what I used, taking care to sort of "blot" the paint around the letters to minimize how much seeped under.
I gave it a good hour to dry and then peeled up the letters with an exacto knife. You can see in the photo above (and all the photos) that there was some paint that leaked under the letters. A few things might help this - using a smoother surface, covering the whole thing with a clear coat of poly before painting or just going back with a small brush and white paint for touch up.
Even though it was a little bad in some parts, I decided it was good to go anyway. My letters are so imperfectly cut and the whole thing sort of fits the vibe of the quote well.
I love the paint peeking out through the back in various colors. I didn't know how it would turn out and it ended up being better than I expected.
My original plan was to hang it in the hallway (we have just one empty wall in this house) but I under-estimated how big the wall was and the canvas looked sad and lonely there. So into the girls' room it went. It will be a good reminder this fall when we expand to four. And it's a good reminder right now as we think about what's next.
Before I stuck down the letters and painted the canvas white, I took a photo and shared it on Instagram (above). If you're interested, you can CLICK HERE to view and then save to your desktop a high-res version (it will print up to 8x10) for personal use in whatever way you like. (Desktop background, print, cards, whatever.) Let's call it a MAKE&GIVE30 project. ;)
Happy Monday!
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