Super Cool Textured Wall Art DIY Tutorial!

        Hello everyone!  Sorry to be gone for so long between posts, some crazy thing have been happening with my hubbys job, mix that with crazy snow and ice weather and I am a ball of stress!  Things have finally calmed down and I am happy to present a tutorial on this painting that I displayed in my last post - 

Its super easy!  Just a little tedious.  

     Things needed :

•  Either an old painting you wish to revamp, or a new canvas to put your painting on.  (Could also be a piece or wood or something, get creative!)
• Paint in various colors
• Small 6" Roller (Paint brush would work too, but I liked a roller much better)
• 2 inch painters tape
• Hot glue gun (Optional)
• Utility knife
• Lots of patience (Mandatory!)

Step 1 -
        Prepare your surface.  If using a brand new canvas, you can skip this step. :)  If using an old painting or old canvas, check it for damage.  For instance - the canvas I had was left by the previous owners of my home.  I found it out in the garage when we bought the house.  It was a pretty picture, but had rips in it! :(

I really had no idea what I was doing, but I had seen that famous DIY painting on Pinterest so many times so I figured I would try it out. (Like this - http://www.pinterest.com/pin/18155204720641739/) If you have any rips like I had in mine, just pull our your glue gun and glue those babys down!  Don't worry about it being perfect, that is what our next step is for.

Step 2 - 

       Priming and adding texture.   Alright, so if you had to glue up some rips, you have got some ugly scars all over your canvas now right?  Well never fear, the glue gun is here!  I just started drawing random squigglys all over the canvas.  Sometimes I would draw swirls, shapes, just whatever floated my boat at the time.  In some spots I wrote "secret messages".  I wrote the date and year in squiggles and my husband and mines initials.  You will notice your scars blend in!  Those of your with perfect canvasas to start with, you are welcome to add texture or not depending on your personal preference!  Now using a cheap paint (all the paint I used was left over house paint) prime all over it and let it dry!

Step 3  - 

       Start painting all over the canvas.  Here is where you get to be creative.  Use a brush, your fingers, a roller, I don't care.  Use whatever colors you like, in whatever strokes you like! Just cover the whole canvas.  

Step 4 - 

       Taping.  Here is where the patience comes in.  This part admittedly made me feel a little crazy.  Like it was never going to be complete.  Get our your 2 inch painters tape, and start rolling it out and cutting it into rectangles.  The easiest system I found was to get a cardboard box, figure out how long I wanted each "brick" to be, then use that measurement and make marks on the cardboard box.  That way I could quickly pull tape, stick it to the cardboard box on the measurement line, then use a utility knife to cut it.  You become quite a machine at this if you have as big of a canvas as I did.  As you cut the pieces, go ahead and stick them on.  Don't get too perfectionist here, I promise it will look alright in the end, just eyeball it.  (Make sure and cut pieces to wrap around the edges, this really completes the look)

Step 5 - 

         Final Coat.  Once you are done with that.  Stand back and admire your handiwork.  Seriously, do it!  Now paint over everything with white. (Or whatever color you choose).  I went with a roller here because it seems better about not "leaking" underneath the tape.  

Step 6 - 

        Pull of all that tape. Pull off all your hard work already?  That's right! It is the most fun part!  I didn't need to do a second coat, but if it look like yours does, go ahead and do it.  You should be left with something like this.  

Up close of the texture.  Even though it bled a little because of the texture, I think it adds 

unique character.

Completely optional - I ended up coloring in some of the squares with white just to give it an even more interesting look.  And there you have it!  Your own awesome art.  

Thanks for reading!  And as always, if you don't know how to do something

Bluff It and Do it Anyway!  :)

The Art Of Treasure Hunting + The Winner of My First Giveaway!

The Art of Treasure Hunting

      Goodmorning and welcome to my blog. On this lovely morning I am going to be tell you lovely folks about the Art of Treasure Hunting!  

Garage Sales

     I absolutely LOVE garage sale-ing.   But I like to have specific things in mind before going out to garage sales.  So, tip #1 ;

1. Have a List!   I have found this extremely useful for my Pinterest projects.  If you are anything like me you probably have a million of those neat Pinterest projects pinned.  Well I will go through some of them (Sometimes all of them if I am feeling crazy)  and write down what I would need to complete them.  (Usually everything I need could come second hand).  So for instance, want to make that cute earring hanger you keep seeing?  (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/201536152045540942/) Write down a decorative frame and maybe some netting or beads.  I am always surprised how much I find when I remember to look for it! 
2. Think Creatively!  Now I'm not telling you to go crazy and buy a bunch of junk you don't need.  But within reason, if something jumps out at you, just think for a minute or two about what you could do with it.  I've made this cheesy flow chart for your convenience of how my purchasing decisions usually go.
   
    

      So basically, this is what goes through my head everytime I am holding something at garage sales.  

Here is one of my recent finds I love.  

Here is my little wooden kitty cat.  While I was at the garage sale this was off to the side.  I picked it up and the woman who was throwing the garage sale said I could have it if I wanted it.  Said it was the only thing left after she owned her own furniture store.  Said it sat outside her business.  So first of all, it was FREE.  So my mind wheels started turning and I knew I could do something with it.  I sanded it down (paying close attention to the ears to try and make them even) and painted it white.

       So here I my kitty cat in it's new home.  I love the eclectic feel it adds to my home.  And while I have this picture, see that Edison Record tube?  Well I was at a garage sale where this lovely older couple had a very cool record player for sale.  Once I started talking to them about it, they both opened up and were thrilled to talk about their collection.  Then they showed me a huge crate they had of these old original Edison records.  I asked if they would be willing to sell one and they said no.  But at the end, he said I could have an empty holder if I would like.  So of course I accepted!  :) So tip #2!

              2.    Talk to people!  If you aren't on a time crunch, just talk with people!  A lot of times you will find more interesting things, hear stories and get lower prices!  

       Records!  Now I may be a little biased to this treasure since I collect Beatles records, but that's why I included a record clock!  Which if you like I can include a tutorial in my next post on how to make one.  Incredibly simple :)    Now for instance, at garage sales, I got that Sgt Pepper record for FREE!  And I got Abbey Road for  $1!  You just have to look through all those stacks of records and you never know what you will find!

       Now whether you are a full-on artist or not, I ALWAYS look for canvases at garage sales and thrift stores.  Canvases are SO expensive any place you buy them, so what better place to look than garage sales?  People (or children) paint things on them and then poof! There they are in the garage sale.  I have a perfectly good canvas to paint over!  Now one of my friends said "Don't you feel bad painting over someone elses art?  And I say Nope!  Not if they are the ones who were selling it in a garage sale to begin with.  So here is an example of a Pinterest project I knew eventually I wanted to do.  No doubt everyone has seen this pin  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/269019777712027428/.  

      When we first moved into our house they previous owners left this gigantic canvas picture.  Just one of those print canvases you buy from Kohls and what not.  But they left it because it had tears in it.  How that happened I'm not sure....

But anyways,  So I set out gluing the tears shut, and beginning my paint project.  I used leftover house paint and painting tape, so a completely free painting!

      And I just love how it turned out!  So buy those canvases!  And do you see my little cow head over on the side there?  When I stood at that thrift store looking at that thing,  I couldn't decide if it was hideous or awesome.  But for only .25 it was worth a gamble.  And now I LOVE it!  It's on our eclectic wall and fits in perfect!

If anyone would like to know how to make the record clock or a tutorial for the canvas just let me know and I will make a post about it :)

And now.   Drumroll please....The first winner of my very first giveaway!

Danalee Davis!

      I have already emailed you and I hope you enjoy your prize!  :) I hope everyone is having an amazing 2014! Thanks for reading!