Wall Art - Huge Piece

I had a very large space on my wall to fill, so I took a couple of pieces of plywood I had around the house, primed them with white latex paint, and started painting them.  I used Folk Art and Apple Barrel paint by Plaid.  First step was to lay down a colorful background.  

I really wanted to do something playful and fun on this, similar to some of the pieces I have seen lately by Stephanie Corfee, so I kinda went wild with my brush.  And I hated it.  Hated. It.  

Not to worry, I covered it back up with more color.  I decided on some simple brush strokes to embellish the painting because I had so much room to cover (like 3 feet by 4 feet).

Here's a detailed shot.

And the finished piece on my wall.

Art Room Chalkboard - Pinterest Inspired

Thanks, Pinterest, for keeping me busy.  Like I had nothing better to do.  Okay, nothing really better to do, but I have lots of laundry and housework that needs to be done.  Instead of working on my chores I am surfing Pinterest boards and working on pins.  Here is an good example.  I have seen tons of pins on how to make your own chalkboard, whatever color you want.  I first spied this project on Design Sponge.  It was in a DIY post called Bonnie's Chalkboard Planting Pots. 

.The project was written by Bonnie from Going Home to Roost.  Here's her recipe....

I kept seeing DIY chalkboard pins on my Pinterest feed, so I had to make my own.  I used acrylic craft paints to make my board and mixed several colors to add layers.  This is how my board started out.

I didn't like it plain so I stenciled some citron colored paint over that layer with punchinella.  Much better.  To frame the board I decided to paint something bold in black and white.  Here's the coat of white with a little note-to-self written in chalk.  I had to test it out!

Work in progress of my detail trim work in black and white. I used latex paint to do the black and white flower frame.  I got a little farther than this and decided to call it quits for a few days, which turned into a few weeks.  Then I couldn't remember why I stopped but knew I didn't feel up to doing it.

I put a movie in a few days ago and got back to it.  Hubby kept asking when I would finish it.  When I got started working I remembered why I stopped - it was literally a pain in the neck, and my back.  I am so short and I had to use a step stool just to stand on my tippy toes and paint.  And I had to bend over to finish the bottom part.  

Whine, whine, whine, complain, blah blah.  I finished it and here it is.  It was worth it and I am so glad to have it done.  By the way, my couch is never this clean.  It usually holds the laundry I put off doing for days at a time.  When it's not covered in laundry, it is covered with tons of toys.

Upcycled Frames - New Bathroom Art

I have been trying to add some color to my house, something I can change out if I get bored with it.  I am not quite ready to go with bright colors on the walls, so I figured colorful art and frames would be the way to go.  I wanted to start in the bathroom and was trying to think of something cool that hubby would like on the walls when it hit me - Outkast.  Oh yeah.  So I went to work.  The first frame I bought did not work out well.  It was thin and I had painted it black.  So I trashed it in search of a wider more colorful frame.  And when I saw this little beauty at the thrift store I just knew it would work.

I know, it looks kinda boring and gross.  But give it a chance.  I got my brush out and went to work.  One thing that I did not do that I really should have is sand it down a bit and prime it with gesso.  Don't skip this step!!!!  I just took the art out and went straight to painting my base coat, Folk Art Aqua.

Had to pull up the nails to get the panel out. 

I did two coats of the aqua paint and let it dry overnight.

Then I came back and antiqued it with some thinned down black paint (used water to thin it).  I just painted the black paint mix down and wiped the excess off.  And here is where I had problems.  Because I did not sand and prime my frame some of the paint peeled off.  Not a big deal, I just went back and touched it up with the aqua paint.  I had to do that in a few different places anyway because the black was too much.  I let that coat dry for a couple of hours and then coated the frame with a spray acrylic gloss (which is kinda nasty and should be used outside or with a respirator - or both!).  I sprayed one coat, let it dry 15 minutes, then sprayed another coat.  I let it sit outside for a few hours before bringing it in. 

When I brought the frame inside I put my print in and placed the panel behind it, then bent my nails back in place.  It looked good on my wall, but I thought it would look better with another piece next to it.  So I took a small plastic frame I had, painted it, and made a print of a photo I took to place inside.

I love this little frame, and thought it would look great with a nice coat of red.  Since I was out of red spray paint, and I am trying not to use it right now (baby bump and all), I just used red acrylic on this one too.  Normally I would use Krylon spray paint on something like this.  I didn't prime this one or even gloss coat it.  Just two coats of Folk Art Lipstick Red acrylic paint and I was done. 

I let it dry overnight and then placed my photo inside and hung it up with my other masterpiece.  They are in my bathroom right now.  Here is a pic of them on the wall together.  Once I get some more art and decor in the bathroom I will show you a wider view of the room.  But for now this should do.

I would like to warn you....if you come to my house and know this song you may want to close your eyes when you enter my bathroom.  Hubby and I both come out of the bathroom with this song in our heads EVERY time.  Usually we sing it or whistle it for a few minutes before we even realize what we are doing.  I may change this up before too long, but for now i think it is just too cool to take down.