More Easy DIY Art.

As you already know, I’ve created a ridiculous amount of very amateur art for our home.  It’s fun to use little money and a bit of creativity to spruce up our space.  My latest “creations” include two amazing brights...coral and citron.  Mixing these invigorating colors with my favorite blues add a super fun pop to our home...perfect for spring and summer!

Two of the pieces I made were painted over old designs.  You might recognize them from my last post...

I mixed my colors mostly using a combo of $0.99 acrylic paints from my craft stash.  First I painted over my beloved stripes from Christmas to create blank canvas.

Then I started layering my favorite colors, and ended with a little liquid gold leaf.

After that was finished, I turned my attention to revamping a piece from last spring.  I truly loved it as is, but needed to freshen up the color scheme.  So I swapped out the hot pink for bold citron...just painting the new color over the old.

Then it was time for two new pieces.  Well over a year ago, I found two sizeable gold frames from Michael’s.  Both were on sale for $8...a deal I just couldn’t pass up!

I didn’t have a plan for them at the time of purchase, so I hoarded them in my junk craft room.  

One day I had a light-bulb moment and realized they’d be perfect to hang on our expansive wall that houses our barn door.  I didn’t have proper paper to paint on for these frames, so I simply flipped over the “picture” that comes with the frame and painted on that.  It wasn't ideal, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. ;)

A few brushstrokes later and I had new art!

For wayyyy too long they sat on our fireplace mantle because, well, I hate hanging things.

Several weeks went by and was finally forced to hang them because we were having company.  (Isn't that always the best motivator?!?!?!)

I absolutely love the statement they make in that formerly boring corner.

I love getting four "new" pieces of art for next to nothing!  

Anyone else swap out and recycle their art?

Cheap and Easy, Again.

When I re-arranged our bedroom {the first time}, I created some cheap and easy art to hang on the walls.  It served it’s purpose, but since I got all wild and crazy a few weekends ago, I needed some new art to fill different blank spaces on the walls.

Simple and inexpensive solution?  Go into our ugly basement, dig out some cheap canvases I purchased in bulk from Michael’s months ago, and get my Picasso on.

The canvases I had on hand were 12” x 12”, so I knew I’d need a grouping of 4 to fill the space I was working on.  I used some metallic gold spray paint I already had to cover each canvas including all the sides.  {So it didn’t stick to the floor, I sat each canvas on a small paint tray.}  Normally, I would never spray paint something indoors, unless I was in a VERY well ventilated area.  But since 1) it’s the middle of winter, 2) I’m impatient and 3) I just wanted to get this project started, I went against my better judgment and quickly got the job done.  I used even, light coats, and each canvas was done after just a few minutes.

{FYI, I turned the heat off before I started spraying to keep the fumes from possibly traveling to other parts of the house, and then I opened the windows and doors in the basement after I was done for about 30 minutes to let everything air out.  Easy peasy.}

After the spraying was done, I let everything dry, and I didn't return to it for a few days...because I'm a crazy person and like to do a million projects at once.  I can't help it.  I get all these ideas in my head and have to just go with it!

Once my project ADD subsided and I found my way back to my bedroom art, I sat on the couch and taped off different stripes all over each canvas.  I didn’t measure anything, and just eyeballed the spacing.  After each canvas was covered, I went over all of the lines with a credit card to make sure they made good contact with the canvas.

Then I headed back to the basement to find some leftover paint from the accent wall in our bedroom.  I got out a small foam roller, and rolled away.  While the paint was still wet, I carefully peeled off all of the tape, and left the canvases to dry.

After a few days {that dang project ADD}, I got out my trusty 3M picture hanging strips and stuck one to the back of each canvas. 

Then I stuck each canvas on our bedroom wall, and voila!  More cheap and easy art for our house!  I love that I didn’t have to go out and buy one thing for this project...everything came from our basement or one of our closets.

So there ya go...round two of my cheap and easy art! :) 

Me Woman, You Man Cave - Part 1, Art

Man Cave. I think it's every man's dream, and my hubby's got one. It's the extra bedroom and it is his place to store and stash his many, many hobbies and deconstruct bicycles....not for my touching. I have touched and remodeled everything else in the house, the way I wanted it. I thought the least I could do was have a dedicated space for the hubby, the Man Cave.

We have lived in the house over a year and I have held true to the "no-touching-the-man-cave" policy I set in place.......until now. It's like an itch you have to scratch or shaking Christmas presents.  I just couldn't wait any longer. And does the hubby know that I touched the Man Cave? Heck no! He's off at deer camp again which equals an entire weekend that I could be in the Man Cave, with free reign. He he he!  Basically - I'm like a little girl, giddy with anticipation.

Let me remind you of what the room looked like for an entire year before I entered it.

Where to start? I want to hang curtains, add pillows, and the room is in major need of something on the walls. Let's start with the something on the walls. And in the spirit of DIY, we need to make the artwork, of course! Since it is a Man Cave, I want the art to be simple, yet graphic and "manly"....but not dead animal-ish.

Needed supplies for graphic/simple/manly artwork: canvas, spraypaint, and masking tape.

To make the pattern, add strips of masking tape in no particular pattern to the canvas. Be sure to extend the strips onto the edges so the pattern continues. Here is what mine looks like while adding the tape.

After you get the tape on the canvas, it's time for spray paint.

Give the canvas two coats of spray paint and let it dry. Then the fun part, peeling off the tape.



Looks great! Yipee! Hang on the wall and enjoy. This was almost too easy; hardly took any time to make. Double yipee! 

Project cost breakdown:

Canvas                  $6.30 (30% off)

Tape                     $1.99 on sale

Paint                      $2.40 on sale

Total                     $10.69

I love it...especially for $10. And when the hubby got home, he loved it too - the entire room. (I'll post about the other projects I did in the room - no sew curtains from sheets, no sew pillows, and asymmetrical wall art grouping.) He thought the artwork was inspired by Van Halen's Frankenstein guitar...which it wasn't, but it does look similar. So now the artwork is extra great for a Man Cave.

Have y'all made any artwork lately? Ever made any artwork inspired from a guitar? What are your thoughts on a Man Cave? Should it be a no-woman / don't touch zone? Or is a little woman-design-touch okay?