White Monogram Canvas {Pinterest Inspired}

 It's no surprise that we all get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest these days. I mean, how could we not? Lately, I have been seeing a ton of white canvas projects and have been dying to make my own. My favorite white canvas 'pin-spiration' to date has got to be this one:

It originated from a European store called 'Not on the High Street.' They have gorgeous personalized canvases with gorgeously high price tags to match. I figured I could attempt to make my own on the cheap, and while the outcome isn't quite as perfect as theirs, it was within my price-range. And I have to say, I am fairly pleased with the results anyway!

 

(Although I'll admit, it is a little rough around the edges and potentially slightly crooked?)

I purchased my supplies at Hobby Lobby, and had to sort through many letter options and sizes to find just the right combo. I settled on chipboard letters instead of wood. One reason being the wooden ones were simply HUGE or just completely the wrong font. Plus, the chipboard ones came in at a bargain. I had to purchase the M and P separately, but the small letters were packaged together in the scrapbooking section. Add a 50% off sale price and they came in at a steal!

The one real problem I ran into was that there was no ampersand to be found, in any font or material. So, I had to get creative there. I decided to use foam board. I stenciled out two ampersands from a print I made with my computer, then cut them with an exacto-knife. They were definitely a little rough around the edges to say the least. 

 

Luckily, a few coats of white paint hides the imperfections quite nicely. So, after hot-gluing my letters to the canvas, I painted till my heart was content. 

Like I said, my version isn't perfect, but it was fun to make.  I do wish I had spent a little time leveling my letters to make straighter. Ohwell, maybe you can do that is you feel inspired to give one a go yourself!

I have been wanting to create a sweet statement for our house lately. There is something about growing our family together that just makes me fall more in love with my husband everyday. It's nice to think about that every time I look at the wall.

Thanks Pinterest for the inspiration!

Happy Wednesday!

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{A Silhouette Project} Vintage Clipboards

I knew exactly how I wanted to design our new nursery if we were having girl. I had a vision of everything I didn't do in my first little girl's nursery, and I wanted to do just that. It was going to be modern, fresh, and unexpected...

So naturally we went to the doctor for our big ultrasound to discover we were having a sweet little...boy! Don't get me wrong, I was very, very excited! I have definitely always wanted one of each, and thought having a baby boy was the perfect addition to our family. I did not, however, have a clear version of the nursery or what I really wanted. So naturally I went searching for inspiration. And let me tell you, I found it in a little known treasure...Restoration Hardware Baby & Child. I mean do you know how fabulous there nurseries are? It seems to me Pottery Barn gets a ton of hype in the blogosphere these days, (and don't get me wrong, I love it too), but Rh Baby & Child is amazing!

I can't wait to share with you the nursery we have designed from it's inspiration, including the bedding we chose, but for now I have a simple project to share that jumped right off it's pages to me: These vintage clipboards...

 

If you look really close, you can see where I got my idea from this great page taken from the RH Baby & Child Catalog.  

 

There are many ideas I used from this room, but I particularly love how the clipboards serve as a great and unexpected display space. For some reason it just screams little boy! Seeing as how I was fresh out of old, vintage clipboards, I decided I would just have to make my own. Here are a few quick and easy steps I used:

1) I purchased memo sized clipboards from Staples. I wanted something that could easily hold flashcards or pictures in the future. A traditional sized board seemed like it would overpower smaller displays, so I decided I could just add some larger ones later when we actually had some art work to display. 

 

2) After some trial and error, I combined two antiquing mediums to get the look I was going for. I followed the directions from the back of the bottles for applying with a sponge brush, rubbing off, and rinsing while wet to get just the right look.

 

3) I wanted to add something to the boards to dress them up just incase I had nothing to display. I decided I wanted to add some simple numbers, so while the clipboard was drying, I turned to my Silhouette studio to look for the right font. I then cut them out in silhouette vinyl to create a super quick and easy stencil. This was the first time I have used the silhouette to create a stencil with vinyl, and I have to say it has revolutionized the way I stencil from now on! The pictures will show you just what you need to finish off this project!

Once I finished the first one, it was easy sailing from then on! I did all three in a matter of minutes.

 

(This picture really shows how the antiquing medium addeed some depth and texture to the very new clipboards.) 

I decided to prop the clipboards up on the  board and batten ledge just above the dresser, securing the stops with a very small 3M poster strip 'just in case.' I am loving the result (though I would love to find a quick and easy way to take the edge off those silver Staples clips?)

 

I'll be linking up to the CSI Project's Knock Off Challenge!

Happy Thursday!

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Stenciled Pillow Covers

When my husband and I bought our couch 3 years ago, we had something very specific in mind: we wanted one with all of the features of his parent's couch. We had been saving and planning for this couch for a while, but when we were looking around in different furniture stores we couldn't find one that had everything that we wanted. When we mentioned this to them, my father in law quickly offered to sell us theirs, as they were looking for a new couch as well.

It seemed like the perfect solution! Though with used furniture there are often seems to be a price to pay.

I didn't want to get rid of our big fluffy pillows or pay to get new ones, so I turned to Tiffany's Shut Up and Sew post about Envelope Pillow Covers and hoped for the best.

Since the pillows are pretty large I was worried that I'd be spending a lot of money on fabric to try to cover them all. Especially since I want these covers to be pretty durable with a 2 year old constantly diving on them and a baby on the way. So I decided it was time to jump on the drop cloth trend.

I picked up a drop cloth from Lowes, which come in a creamy color. Since my wonderful couch is already a sea of beige, I wanted something much lighter, so I followed Miss Mustard Seed's notes on bleaching the drop cloth and got just what I was looking for. A light non-beige background all ready for some paint.

I measured my fabric following Tiffany's instructions, and cut it up. Now for the fun part.

I covered my table, laid out the front piece of fabric on the table, and covered it with this incredible Acacia Allover Stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils. I taped it lightly to the table (just a few pieces) so that it wouldn't shift at all as I rolled on my paint. (Does anyone else think it's incredibly ironic that I put a "dropcloth" under my dropcloth fabric, which I was painting on purpose? No? Just me? Okay.)

I got DecoArt's SoSoft Fabric Paint in Prussian Blue and rolled it onto my sponge roller. I then turned to the drop cloth.

I rolled the paint on in light layers. It took about 3 coats of paint to get the depth of color that I wanted, and I discovered that with the fabric paint I didn't need to blot off as much paint as if I was doing the walls. It's a bit thick and took more paint to get the coverage that I was looking for.

The great thing about the allover stencils, like this one, are that Cutting Edge has a little extra bit of the pattern on the side,

so that when you shift your stencil over to do the next side, it lines up perfectly, and is ready to go. So great, right?!

The moment of truth...

Perfect!!

When the paint was dry, I took my fabric to my sewing machine, and a half hour later I had a pillow cover! Tiffany was telling the truth, (not that we doubted her), but even a beginner can make a pillow cover!! This was my first ever pillow attempt and it turned out exactly how I wanted it!! Now how often can you say that about something that is your first attempt?

I just love the design, very Pottery Barn-ish. And as always with Cutting Edge's stencils, those lines are clean clean clean. This was especially important to me since this design would be seen up close, as opposed to some of the others I've done that are on the wall and are seen from a bit of a distance. Doing the stencil on a flat surface was just perfect, there was no pocketing or gaps, and it was as easy as pie. So I made another.

I didn't stencil the back of the pillows because I liked the similar but contrasting look. (You know, same fabric color and texture for both, but pattern on one and not on the other.)

I decided to add velcro to the back of my second pillow just to see how much of a difference it made. I did two 3 inch strips so my pillow still had that great over-stuffed look, but also had some durability since these will be used daily and aren't just decorative. It made such a difference that I went back and sewed velcro on the first pillow as well.

So what do you think? Fun, right?

I'll be linking this around to some great parties, including the DIY Club. Hope to see you there!

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Fancy Weathered Frame

After discovering Americana's Weathered Wood, I have been completely inspired. I have always loved the look of anything Shabby Chic, and this stuff makes it more than easy to create. I took an old, slightly unsightly frame, a couple of my favorite paint colors, Weathered Wood, ribbon and some sparkle...
To make this!To use the Weathered Wood, you simply apply a base coat of acrylic paint...
Then paint on an even layer of the Weathered Wood...Then another light coat of your top paint choice. As you are painting, the top layer begins to crackle, giving your frame an awesome texture.

Now to finish it up, I wanted to add a little 'chic' touch. I simply hot glued a sparkle-ly button onto a complimentary ribbon choice, and hot glued both to the frame.
This was the final result...
The easiest little gift for many on your list. Christmas may be over, but don't you have a year full of birthdays, appreciations, etc. to look forward to?I'll be linking to these parties this week. Happy Thursday everyone!

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