DIY Water Color Monogram

I just got home from a baby shower!  The parents-to-be are my closest friends and they are having a little, baby boy.  As a part of their gift, I made this framed monogram with water color details:

These are the supplies you will need:

• 2 pieces of water color paper
• Water color pencils or water color paint
• Paint brush
• X-acto knife
• Scissors
• Picture frame
• Printer (not required, but recommended)

Here's how I made it:

For starters, I used my water color pencils to color random bold stripes onto my paper.

If you are using regular water color paints, then you can go ahead and directly paint random stripes onto your paper.  Be creative with your patterns!  You can even paint a little picture if you want.

Since I was using water color pencils, I had to use a wet brush to "paint" my stripes.

After painting my stripes, I cut the paper down to size so that it would fit into the 10x8" frame I had bought.  I also made sure to cut my other piece of paper down to size at this point too.

For the cutout of your letter, I recommend printing an outline of the letter in the font you wish to use. For my gift, I knew I wanted to use a capital letter so I spent time looking for the right font and determining the right size.  The font and size are up to you, but my only recommendations are to use fonts that are bold and large enough so that the colors can peek through.  I also recommend printing only the outline of the letter so that you don't waste ink!

I cut the letter "E" with a regular pair of scissors and taped it face-down onto the backside of the other piece of water color paper.

I then used my X-acto knife and a ruler to trace the edges of the letter.  I decided to cut from the backside of the paper because I wanted the front to have crisp, clean edges.  Also, it would be best to have the sharpest X-acto knife possible.  Having a sharp knife gives you better control and also ensures that your lines are clean.

Please don't cut on your wood floors!  This picture is only for demonstration purposes!

After a few minutes of cutting, I ended up with this:

Once you are done cutting out your letter, you can assemble the sheets in the frame to look like this:

Ta-da!

That was simple, right?  This monogram isn't only a cute baby shower gift.  You can also make a more fancy, schmancy one by applying gold leaf instead of using water colors and gifting this to an adult.  I definitely want to make a "W" for myself!  Let me know if you try this.  It would be awesome to see yours if you did!

This post is linked up to: DIY Show off

DIY Faux Chalkboard Wall Art

I have finally started decorating my dining room walls, and like always, I wanted to add a personal touch!  I love the idea of chalkboard wall art, but I wanted something a little easier to clean and maintain.  So, I decided to create a faux chalkboard!  Let me tell you how!

Supplies needed:

• Black Posterboard
• White Paint Pen
• Picture Frame

I started the project out by searching for kitchen/dining room/home-related quotes that I might have wanted to use.  I also looked at chalkboard wall art pictures on pinterest and google to get inspiration for the types of fonts I wanted to use and the different ways words could be arranged on my poster board.

I cut the black posterboard down to size so that it would fit within the frame.  

Then, I freehanded everything onto the black posterboard.  If you are uncomfortable with the thought of free-handing your letters, you could definitely lightly pencil the words in, then trace with the white paint pen.  However, I believe the little mistakes you make while free-handing add character to your piece of wall art and make it unique!  So don't be afraid to attempt this without drafting it with a pencil first.

Once I was finished, I popped the posterboard into the frame and...voila!

This is what my finished product looks like:

...And this is what it looks like in my dining room:

The fun thing about this project is that the words and style you use are totally up to you!  Looking at chalkboard wall art pictures gave me a lot of inspiration for this project and I definitely recommend looking at different pictures to get an idea of what you want your piece to look like.  This was a quick and inexpensive project to add a little personal touch to my dining area.  I hope you try this project and would love to see pictures if you do!