DIY silhouette art
I’m always guffawing at the prices of simple silhouette art in home decor stores. A solid-coloured canvas with a solid-coloured silhouette in the middle — a crown, a dog, a purse, a hamburger (OK I haven’t seen a burger painting but I’d sure like that in my house) — and they’re charging $40. Really???
Today I’m sharing how VERY VERY EASY it is to make your own, and zero artistic ability is required.
You’ll need:
- Wooden canvas (if you’re using a regular canvas, you’ll want to use this method)
- Printer paper + access to the almighty Google
- A ballpoint pen + some hand muscles
- Acrylic-ish paint (I used my go-to Fusion, but Dollar Store stuff is fine for a project like this)
- A small craft brush
DIY glitter name from foam core
On Monday I shared the fun (and budget-friendly) gallery wall I did for a client’s daughter, and today I thought I’d share the steps behind the oversized glitter-covered “Addy” that’s part of the arrangement.
You’ll need:
- A sheet of foam core (mine was a few bucks at Walmart)
- Spray varnish (You could use Mod Podge instead, but this is faster and leaves a smoother finish.)
- Loose glitter
- A craft knife (it’s easier than scissors)
- Printer paper (four sheets)
- A ballpoint pen
To get started, I went to my go-to font free website and typed her name in a font called “Beauty and the Dutch.” It’s best to pick a font where the letters are touching, unless you want to hang them on the wall separately.
Then I saved a photo of her name (no need to actually download the font) and opened in Paint so I could quickly edit it. I put lines down the middle (horizontally and vertically) to roughly divide her name into four pieces, making it easier to print nice and large.
Then I cropped each piece separately so I had four different photos — each with 1/4 of her name.
I printed out the four pages on regular ol’ 8.5×11 printer paper, and just taped them back together at the seams to make the full name again. Then, because I wanted her name to be nice and thick, I used a pen to make the outline a little “bubblier.”
This next part can be hard on your writing hand, but it’s worth it. I spread the printed name on top of the foam core, and used a ballpoint point to trace the name — pressing HARD so it would indent the foam core through the paper.
The outline was faint, but it was enough to cut out the name using my craft knife.
I sprayed it lightly — using another piece of foam core for overspray — and sprinkled it with white glitter. Ahhhhhh.
Repeat this process several times, about an hour apart, until you have it completely coated in glitter. Then do another coat or two of spray to “seal” it all in.
Addy’s glitter name is perfect in her new gallery wall. (More on that in yesterday’s post.) Glitter is ALWAYS a good idea. 😉
When your kids learn chess … and you can’t
When our six-year-old neighbour came over last week with a chessboard under his arm, I was gobsmacked.
“You … you know how to play chess?!” I asked, incredulously.
“Our kids know how to play checkers,” I thought. “He must be using the set to play checkers.”
“Yup,” he replied, quietly setting up the board on our kitchen table.
Our kids, five and seven, gathered around the board as he started explaining the rules. I watched, too, still in shock at this six-year-old chess champ.
“Kings can only move one space, any way,” he told them, seriously. “Queens can move any way, as much as you want.”
“Wait, they don’t just each move one square at a time?” I butted in. “Like in checkers?”
“No. Pawns move one, except on their first turn they can move two. But they only attack that way,” he continued, swiping his finger in a diagonal motion.
I was dumbfounded — with the emphasis on “dumb.” I’d known chess had cute little pieces in different shapes, unlike regular old checkers, but I hadn’t known they each had their own set of rules about moving around.
They played a practice game while he continued to explain the rules. He couldn’t remember the names of some of the pieces so they called the rooks “castles” and the knights “horses.” (I only figured out the proper names because I’m an adult with a phone and can Google like nobody’s business.) The fact that he was clearly a whiz at chess, but too young to remember the terminology, made the whole thing even cuter …
Continue reading in my weekly parenting column, The Mom Scene …
Budget-friendly kids’ gallery wall
The thing about decorating kids’ rooms is a parent’s instinct is often to (a) add bright colours and (b) let the kids pick out things they like. Neither of those things are wrong, but they can both lead to decorating roadblocks.
I was recently called in to help tweak the decorating in Addy’s room. It was full of light and had excellent “bones” in the form of matching white Ikea furniture, but her mom didn’t feel the room looked “finished.”
Two things struck me immediately: (a) wow, that is a PINK accent wall, and (b) ugh, a Trolls poster is not an ideal focal point.
The pink wall wasn’t a problem. It was even a really nice pink — a preferred shade I have always called Barbie Pink. The trouble was that it was so bright and eye-catching, the only thing to look at was . . . that framed Trolls poster. (Yes, Trolls is a fun movie with excellent songs — I have the soundtrack on my iPhone — but I don’t enjoy characters in decorating or clothing, as a rule.)
I took a bunch of photos and measurements, and went home to start working on pieces for a fun, fresh gallery wall arrangement to replace Poppy and her friends.
I was going to use two large canvas prints that Addy already owned (both from Winners) along with a light-up unicorn, but I needed smaller elements to mix in. I also wanted to balance out all of the pink by adding lots of white and pops of aqua and yellow.
Here are seven different ways I created inexpensive new pieces for Addy’s gallery wall …
1. Laser-cut wooden frames.
These basic wood frames (no glass or backing) are usually around $1 at the craft store and are easy to paint. I filled one with a picture of JoJo Siwa (cut from an old calendar page I found in Addy’s room), and the other holds a chihuahua birthday card from her friend, Kinley.
2. Glittery foam name.
I used a pretty, free font (“Beauty and the Dutch” on DaFont.com) and printed out Addy’s name. Then I transferred it onto a huge piece of foam core, cut it out with a craft knife, and covered the whole thing in many coats of white glitter and clear spray lacquer.
3. Fabric letter.
With my remaining foam core, I cut out an uppercase “A” and wrapped it in yellow fabric — hot-glueing it in place on the back. Then I added a few sparkly buttons and felt flowers to the front to dress it up.
4. Silhouette art.
I took a square scrap of wood, painted it white and then hopped online to scroll through different silhouette clipart. Addy loves unicorns so I picked one, printed it out, and traced it onto the wood. It didn’t take long to fill it in with pink craft paint, and then I added pink glitter because glitter is always a good idea.
5. Small wooden accents.
Wooden hearts, keys, crowns, and other shapes are also around $1 at the craft store. They’re great “filler” to add when you’re finishing a gallery wall, and attach easily with Command Strips or finishing nails.
6. Doodle art.
I painted a tiny wood square white, sketched an abstract design with a black Sharpie, and filled it in with pink, turquoise and yellow — more free art.
7. Pom-pom garlands.
Thread a needle with sturdy thread and stitch through the pom-poms individually — making sure to double back and then continue so they hold their position. I’d never made these before, and now I’m hooked. They’re so fun!
***
Addy loves her new gallery wall, and it’s changed the whole look of her bedroom. Oh, and I did keep her Trolls poster — I just re-hung it in a spot where it’s not so prominent. 😉
Knock knock me over
I’m done with this week.
Or really, I should say “this week is done with me.” It won. It beat me. I give up.
Someone I love passed away, far too young, and we say good-bye to her on Tuesday. It was only the second funeral I’ve ever attended and holyshititwasgutting.
I didn’t know when exactly I expected to lose it during the service, but it wasn’t when I expected it to happen. It was during the hymn about loving all God’s creatures.
Suddenly I was sobbing “She hated spiders!” into my sister’s shoulder. She nodded through her tears. “No, she REALLY hated spiders!” I was borderline hysterical at this point. How had I forgotten, until that stupid hymn, how much she hated spiders? It shattered me.
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Heather's Handmade Life 