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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Fabric Wall Art Tutorial

Lately I've been such a sucker for cute fabrics. I love them, and the best part? SO  affordable. I have to say IKEA really tugs at my heartstrings the hardest with their fun, bold and affordable prints. Finding someone to cut the fabric? Difficult. Don't say I didn't warn you! But, well worth the struggle.  Anyway, here's the project I can't seem to stop doing:
These lil beauties are above my bed.  IKEA had an adorable print with bunnies and squirrels but in a bright modern style, and I instantly fell in love. I wanted new wall art as well, and it all came together perfectly. So this is the easiest project in the WORLD, and you can use existing canvases around your house without doing any damage. I used some of my old oil paintings, and merely staped to the back. So my paintings are still under there.. I just needed a change, ya know?  First you need canvas, here's where I got mine:

Step 1: Gather your tools! You'll need:
Canvas or frames (For the smaller ones I used some old idea frames that could take the staples)
Fabrics
Staple Gun
Fabric Scissors
10 Minutes

This tutorial was made when I was making these for my living room:



Step 2: Lay out your fabric face down, and put the canvas on. Play around and decide what you want to show, it always comes out great.

Step 3: Cut out the shape of the canvas, remember to give your self extra space on the edges for the wrapping. I did like 4 inches per side.

Step 4: Think of wrapping gifts, just start wrapping and stapling. You want to staple onto the back, versus the sides, because it gives that nice gallery wrap look.  At first it helps to crossover to the opposite side, pull the fabric taught, and give a staple. Then just repeat! Tip: I left my corners for last.
Step 5: Continue all the way around the canvas.For the corners I flattened them out at a diagonal, pulled, and stapled. Trim off excess fabric.
Step 6: There is no step 6, you're done! Hang these up, instant wall art, and it's sooo affordable! I had this random heater wall that just needed a little love. My intentions are to put coat hooks under, not sure. For now there's a cute wooden catch all chair.
Hope you enjoyed the tutorial, and hopefully you feel inspired to start wrappin' up your canvas! There are literally thousands of prints out there, and this would also look amazing framed as well. Imagine, an old frame spray painted in high gloss white? Delicious. Have a great day!
Okay-okay, this isn't a wrap, but check out that great print... Ikea also. (above)


In the last shot, I imagine a solid color frame... so cute!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

How To Chalk Things Up

Hello and Happy Holidays! Well.. belated anyway. The holidays were SO wild for me here that I basically shut down shop for the month of December, to focus on family, friends, fun times and home repairs. Things are piecing themselves back together nicely, and so far, 2011 is a pretty nice year.

Seeing as how I haven't been up to TOO much, I decided to feature a tutorial from the great Design Sponge today.  This series is called Before & After Basics, by Barb Blair. I love her approach and her style, it's right up my alley.  I thought I'd share her! The tutorial I chose is regarding the wonderful chalkboard paint, which is extremely easy and fun! Plus, everyone who sees it in your home thinks your some sort of genius, which is always a welcome feeling if you ask me....haha.  Luckily for me, this is a no-genius-necessary project and pretty much could go on any surface. I'm debating painting a breakfast nook table with chalkboard. Here's the link to the tutorial: Chalk it up!  To give proper credit, the picture is from DesignSponge.com

Special thanks to Barb and everyone at Design Sponge for providing us all with great resources and fun eye candy all over their site. Happy New Year everyone! Make it a great one.