DIY Art Project

On day 9 of my 11 day weekend (thank you, snow), I decided I needed a little craft project to keep myself busy. Did you know there is now longer a cross stitch section in Michaels? I'm appalled! That is always my go-to, easy, time consuming project. So, scratch that. Then, I moved on to the scrapbook section (a.k.a. the entire store) in hopes of finding cute paper I could frame for my computer room/office. Another no-fail, easy project. Well, do you think they had ANY yellow patterned paper? Yellow being a primary color and all... No! Of course they didn't. Aisles and aisle of paper but I guess nobody likes the color yellow anymore. I was running out of ideas fast.

In the end, I walked out of the craft store with two blank canvases ($7.99), yellow paint ($.99), and a set of paint brushes ($3.99). Since easy was no longer an option, I was going to paint some purty pictures myself. Unfortunately, I can't paint/draw/etc. So, I turned to Google in hopes someone could help me through this dilemma. I came across this oh so helpful blog with a set of instructions on making a stencil out of painter's tape: All Things Thrifty.

Basically, I was able to follow all her instructions except I didn't have a pattern to trace. So, drawing on inspiration from a pillow I have in this room already, I created my own pattern using the Paint application on my computer. And this is my Do It Yourself Project big reveal:

It was definitely a learning experience. Painting over a painter's tape stencil is not as easy as it sounds - paint bleeds underneath or globs. A lot of touch up work was required. I would absolutely recommend "cutting in" around the stencils rather than quickly going over them with a brush. It's worth the extra time.

The room is still a work in progress, but I'm happy to finally have some yellow and white art!