Wednesday, January 22, 2014

DIY Eclectic Alphabet Wall Art: Part 1



Let me have an honest moment with you, readers. I have lived in my house for over 5 years now and though I love DIY and art, there is not a single nail in my walls. It is a point of frustration for me that I am determined to remedy soon (and more on that later!).

When I was pregnant with my daughter (2 years ago), I was inspired by all of these lovely images I found all over the internet of eclectic alphabets hung in children’s rooms. My partner is not a fan of eclectic style but to my shock and amazement, he told me it was a great idea when I said I wanted to make letters to coordinate with the baby’s room. Honestly, I think that deep down he thought it would be a project that I would never finish. Well, joke is on him now! I applied my last coat of purple to the final letter last week and hung them all on the walls of my daughter’s room yesterday!

There is some great variety here so take a look! I would love to tell you how I made them—it might inspire you to create a few of your own as well. You don’t have to do the whole alphabet. Consider doing your street name in the front entrance, your family name in your living room, your child’s name in their bedroom, or your favorite creative word in your craft space!


A: Picked this one up at Home Goods. It was originally silver and designed to sit on a shelf. A healthy coating of green and the latticework of the metal shines.


B: I bought the letter and the canvas at Michael’s. The canvas is a part of a 10 pack of 8x10 value canvases. I wrote the uppercase B in pencil lightly and free hand then filled it in with purple acrylic paint. The lower case B was white and I spray painted it green.


C: My mom made this one! First, she used Spellbinder's to cut the flowers out of paper. Taking chalks, she colored the petals and adds a pollen accent on the middle with a Copic Marker. The flowers are hand painted with stickles on the inside for the touch of glitter every little girl needs.


D: This is a cardboard letter I got in the clearance section of Michaels—25 cents! I painted the letter purple then took purple glow-in-the-dark puffy paint and drew the scrolling design by hand. This letter was inspired by this pin!


E : This is a pretty heavy pre-made letter. I bought it at Marshall’s. It’s a dark brown that I did not alter in any way. 


F: This one was fun to do! I started with two different weights of jewelry wire, a print out of the letter “F” in a font that I liked, and a can of purple spray paint. Bend the heavier weight wire to trace the outline of the letter that you have printed. Overlap the ends and twist off. Mine ends in the straight, flat area of the top of the F so that it is in a strong place for support. Next, twist and wrap the thin wire in and around the letter outline. I was going for a "scribbled" kind of look but you can certainly wrap in a more uniform pattern. This step, I used several lengths of wire so that the wrapping was easier. Just do your best to tuck in any sharp ends. Next, spray paint the letter whatever color you desire. This letter was inspired by the string art you see all over the internet these days... just with a different nod to it!


More letters (and better pictures, I swear) to come! Stay tuned...


Link to Part 4 (Letters T to Z)Link to Part 5 (Arranging and Hanging)
 

1 comment:

  1. Mega Monkey Mom here with an apology for not documenting my process very well! In looking at my notes - the pansy flowers on the letter C were done with a hand punch and not my beloved Spellbinders dies. I used ink pads in two colors to shade them and a fine line marker for the lines that radiate from the flower centers. The Stickles (clear color) were added last to give that glittery shine. These were lightning fast to create - other favs were hydrangeas and dogwood blooms. You will love these!

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