Wednesday, April 04, 2007

A Frugal Girl's Guide to Wall Art

You don't even have to be terribly creative or crafty to spruce up your space with hand-painted art.

1. Select your space.
I am still working on giving Sienna's room finishing touches. I *love* her room. It's kind of like what I always wanted as a girl.

2. Select your art.

I wanted a whimsical saying on her wall {something that reflects her character}, but you could do a Scripture, your child's favorite movie character, their name or initials.

3. Decide how big the art needs to be.
I just stood back and tried to imagine the words on the wall & figured that my words needed to be about 5-6" tall for the best look.


4. Open your word processing program. Then type your phrase/name/quote. Select different fonts to get the look you want. Adjust the font size to the size that you estimated you need. Format the font so that it will just print the "outline". I only got about one word printed per page, sometimes only half a word. Then print out your phrase, selecting "mirror image" in your print options so that it prints your words in reverse. If you are wanting a character on your child's wall, try photocopying a coloring book & enlarging on your printer.
For Sienna's wall, I chose the font MA Sexy {downloaded from the internet} because I wanted something whimsical looking. The font size was probably about 200 or so.


5. Get out your pencil! Trace over each word with your pencil {just the outline}. Once all the words are traced it is time to transfer them to your wall. Place the paper on your wall, with your pencil markings touching the wall. Then go over the words AGAIN on the back of the paper, rubbing where your pencil marks are touching the wall to transfer the words on. Here is the mirror image traced:
Here is the word after rubbing on the back side. You can kind of see how I used almost a crayon-coloring motion:

If your arms get tired like mine did, you can make a little pencil mark across the bottom & one side of the paper ONTO the wall, that way you can reposition the paper in the exact same place if you have to come back later. Here is the word after being traced on the wall. It was hard to get a good picture, but I think you can see the faint outline:

6. Get out your craft paints & a little paint brush. Start filling in each word with your desired color. I picked a darker green to contrast with the the pale green walls. Words in progress:

7. Stand back and admire your handiwork! Here is a close-up of the words:
The finished product:
The happy recipient of my whimsical creation:

Fairly simple way to personalize your space. How about adding some words in your kitchen? Or a welcoming Scripture in your entryway. This cost me nothing but my time as I already have plenty of pencils and paper, craft paints, and paintbrushes. With an unlimited number of fonts available on the internet, you can customize the size & look of your wall art. Happy crafting!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very neat! I have been wondering what to do since i hadn't found a stencil i liked for the girls room! excellent idea and thanks for sharing!! :0)

Erin said...

Ummmm...LOVE IT!!! I actually have bought paint to do this(I bought the Benjamin Moore samples). I want to put "Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world" in our bedroom. And "If you think our hands are full you should see our hearts" in the livingroom. Good idea about how to transfer though. I was thinking I was going to need a projector. What is your site for fonts?

Thanks for sharing!

Rebecca said...

Thanks girls ;>) You could also use carbon paper for the transfer, but I just rather save the $$ and do it how I suggested. I use dafont.com for most of my fonts. I like how they are sorted into categories like distressed, handwriting, whimsical, etc. I love the quote for your living room Erin. Somehow I picture your handprints or a collection of hearts surrounding the quote. Let me know if you have any more ???s.