Friday, January 21, 2011

Valentine Decor on the cheap: Part II + tutorial

Okay,
installment numero dos of my V-day decor.
If you missed Part I, it's HERE
and if you'd like to know how I made the wreath from that post you can find a tutorial on that craziness HERE

On to my mantel...
(again, sorry for the dark pics, but you folks know I don't get anything done until all the kiddos are asleep)


yes...I know I use these letters for everything but I love them.
big time.
I already had the 'O' from 'BOO' (halloween mantel) so all I needed was the 'X'. (thanks, hob lob)

this fab print is a free printable over at Becky's blog.
thanks Becky! And there's a tutorial for how I made that cute little fleece rosette in THIS POST.

and this is a lil something I whipped up myself-
(tutorial at the end of this post)

couldn't decide if I liked it on the mantel or the piano...

and...just a reminder that these pics are cropped so that you don't see this...

if you missed my post about "real life, real messes" and the linky party at Decor Chick, you can check them out HERE and HERE
someone actually thought I ran a daycare after seeing my real life pics of this room. I love it!
-------------------------------

now- here's how I made the LOVE sign-

I used some spray paint,
red glitter,
4 chipboard letters from the hob lob (.99 a piece)
a thin canvas (12 x 14 I think?)
and black electrical tape (since that's all I could find)

first, I positioned my letters in the center of the canvas, turning the 'O' slightly to the right, ya know...
because that's the cool way to do it

and since I took the time to get out the tape measure and deal with numbers, I didn't want those letters blowing all over the place when I hit em with the paint, so I put a lil piece of tape on the back of each one and stuck em on down...

see?
no falling off.

next, I traced the inside of the 'O' with a pencil since I had plans for that middle part that didn't include spray paint

and used more tape to cover up the hole

outside time!
since I didn't put paper down underneath my project, I just made sure it was on lots of pine straw so I could pick it up and the hubs wouldn't yell about having a blue yard.
I sprayed away, making sure not to cover the entire thing, BUT hitting the outsides of the letters real good. or, real well.
gooder?
whatever.

see how there's still a bit of white-ish around the edges of the canvas?
love that look.


next, I took a paint brush and filled in the circle of the 'O' with glue, then doused in glitter.
Boom.
pretty, cheap art that won't necessarily have to be put away after V-day is over.

next up...
the dining room hutch.
because I threw around some red + pink in there too...

                                      I'm linking to these fabulous parties

UndertheTableandDreaming

Making
Visit thecsiproject.com






All Things Heart and Home




 
 Fingerprints on the Fridge



11 comments:

Decorchick! said...

Love your mantel Mary Kathryn!! And I love the LOVE sign. So sweet!! That's so funny about the daycare and cracks me up those were cropped photos! You're awesome.

Fonda @Southern Scraps said...

Love your mantel. I like the sign on the mantel.

Keisha Lynn @ Project Campbell said...

Oh this is super cute... I'm doing the LOVE canvas tomorrow!!! Thanks so much for sharing! I'll be surfing around your blog now! I can't wait to see what else you have done!!! As far as the "real life" goes... I totally get it. I have 3 kiddos! Now 2 of them go to big school so it's much easier, but we still LIVE here!!!

kim west said...

this is adorable! love the whole thing down to your wall color!

Tammy @ Type A said...

your mantle is adorable, i never thought to use the chipboard as a reverse stencil. very cool

i'm having a party hope you join

http://typeadecorating.blogspot.com/2011/01/anything-goes-party-1-and-few.html

Anonymous said...

you need a heart or something hanging down so that it rests in the middle of that GORGEOUS red plate!

kristy.lynn @ kristy.makes said...

loving this 'love' sign!

Heather {WhipperBerry} said...

love the mantle, love the canvas...love it all!

kisses
heather

Michelle said...

Love your Love! I vote for you for the Valentines day challenge for less than bliss!

Kathy said...

Oh my gosh, thanks for showing your real-life decor pics! We usually have a big train set all over the living room (child insists it won't run on his bedroom carpet), plus, my pet peeve---dirty socks!!! Cute sign; I like it on the piano, but it could get in the way if you play.

Lauren @ Love, Water and Wine said...

I love this! I would love for you to link up to my Ten Buck Tuesday link parties!

www.youngnester.blogspot.com

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