Thursday, June 30, 2011

{vroom vroom}

You know what's better than a good DIY project?

A free one!

By free I mean that I already had all of the supplies, most of them for so long now that I don't remember what I paid for them. So in my mind, that made them free. :)

Now on to the project. Ben's room needed some more art, and something to cover up the radio/intercom system on his wall. I wanted it to be graphic and bold, and coordinate with his car bedding. So I took a cue from the words on his comforter...


And I gathered my supplies:

  • 16x20 art canvas
  • light blue craft paint
  • discarded CVS card (I'll show you how this comes in handy in a sec)
  • paint brush
  • pencil
  • patterned paper
  • white paper
  • mod podge


I downloaded a free font from dafont.com that reminded me of the font on the bedding, and printed out the word "vroom" in the size I wanted. Then I cut out the letters, traced them onto my patterned paper {backwards on the back of the paper} and cut them out again.

To paint the canvas, I used a little trick that I learned from Melody Ross to speed up the process. I squirted a long line of paint across one end of the canvas, and used the side of my CVS card to drag the paint across it...


 This technique gives you an even and thin coat of paint super quickly, and it dries a lot faster. Considering I started this project when the boys were begging me to play with them, tricks like this are a lifesaver. I then used a paint brush to do the edges of the canvas and do the finish coat.

Once the paint was dry, I laid out my letters and some cute clouds I free-handed on white paper on the canvas. Once I had the arrangement I wanted, I used my new best friend mod podge to glue everything down, making sure I covered the entire front of the canvas with a thin coat of glue.

And here is the finished canvas!


It really gives his room the pop of color I was looking for. And I'm so proud that I was able to create this without going out and buying a single thing!


You never know what you might have laying around your house that you could turn into awesome art.

And I think Ben likes it too..


Linking up with...




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15 comments:

Thrifty Crafty Girl said...

That is awesome! I love the CVS card trick, I'll have to try it!

Lisa said...

Really cute! Great way to make some easy wall art!

By the Bluegrass said...

Super cute! Looks like something right out of pottery barn, but better!
xo,
Sena

Unknown said...

Precious! The colors turned out so vibrant. :D

Jodi said...

That looks awesome!

Jenny said...

So cute! My kids are begging me to make them each one now. Except one needs to be a ballerina and say DANCE.

Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy said...

how cute! I would love it if you would link up to my Tuesday Confessional link party going on now: http://www.craftyconfessions.com/2011/07/tuesday-confessional-link-up-2.html. I hope to see you soon!
~Macy from Confessions of a SAHM

Kath said...

oooohh I would love this in my son's room. He loves cars and this would be perfect. great idea!

kathryn
www.thedragonsfairytail.blogspot.com

Ginger@gingersnapcrafts.com said...

Following from Tip Junkie‘s link party. I'm #100!! Wow! :) Love how this turned out...so cute! Would love to have you link this up to my {wow me} wednesday link party going on right now over on my blog. Hope to see you there. :)

Ginger
gingersnapcrafts.blogspot.com

Diary of a Lucky Mom said...

Following from Skip to my Lou. I love it! The colors are so fun and bright! Great way to add to a room.

Jessica @ jessicaNdesigns said...

SO cute!! Thank you for linking up!! I hope to see you back again! xoxo

Michelle Paige said...

Super cute idea! I love how you made it with such simple materials. I need to play with canvas. Thanks for the inspiration!

kam said...

This is a beautiful and simple. It is perfect for my kids at the school this summer. Thanks

Unknown said...

That's so awesome! And thanks for sharing that painting trick. That's one of those, "why didn't I think of that" things. Pinning this for sure!

Crafty Mischief said...

This is too cute! My son's room used to be decorated in cars and trucks. This would have been perfect! Now he's obsessed with space and planets! Maybe I could do something with stars instead of clouds and words that say blast off? Thanks so much for the inspiration!

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