DIY Canvas Art

I've seen this one circling Pinterest for awhile, but never really found one with super clear instructions. Most of the pins are just pictures of the finished product. And I know, it's really not that difficult and probably summed up in a simple phrase: Put painter's tape on a canvas and paint over it. (The "peel the tape off after it's dry and you have awesome original wall art" part is implied). But I figured I'd write my own blog, give my two cents, add all the little tips that none of these sites seem to have. So after my adventures with paint and stickers, I thought I'd give this one a try. Sara was looking for a fun and easy project for her youth group to do while on a retreat, and so we decided to test it out. I think they turned out well!

Supplies:

~canvas

~paint

~paintbrushes

~masking/painter's tape

~newspaper (if you want to cover the table)

Step 1: Paint the canvas. 

Pretty basic. Apparently neither one of us likes red paint, haha.

Step 1.5: Wait for the paint to dry.

This was Sara's least favorite part. 

But seriously. Pretty important if you want your design to turn out

the way you want it. Otherwise, the tape peels up the paint.

Step 2: Place masking or painter's tape on the canvas.

You can use it to make letters, lines, squares, shapes, just about anything. The tape is the part that you won't be painting over, so anything underneath it will show through in the final product.

Step 3: Paint black over the whole canvas.

Paint carefully. Make sure the tape is firmly pressed down. Try not to let the edges get peeled back while you're painting. Take your time, or the paint might seep under the edge of the tape, which makes more blurry lines. Using spray-paint would probably solve that problem. I haven't tried it yet because I haven't taken the time to go out and buy black spray paint. 

Step 3.5: Wait for the paint to dry. Again.

Sara's other least favorite part.

Step 4: Remove the tape from the canvas.

Peel carefully! It's really important (again) to make sure that the paint has dried completely before you start to peel up the tape, or the paint will get smear-y and might peel up with the tape. But hey, the results are pretty great:

And really, that's all there is to it! Sara is a self-proclaimed non-crafty person, and she had a great time. I believe her words were "Super cool and super easy!" It's really a basic project that anyone can do, even kids. Mom could put the tape down on a canvas and let the kids finger-paint over it, and it would have the same result. 

Have at it, friends! Let the original-art-making commence!

The 12 "Days" of Massanutten

Vacation time at Massanutten! It might have been 10 degrees outside this week, but inside it was full of love and laughter and warm hearts <3

12 wonderful women whom I am so very happy to call my friends (yes, there's a baby in there too!)

11 movies watched throughout the week... Including, but not limited to, Sweet Home Alabama, Walk the Line, Maid in Manhattan, Princess Bride, Italian Job, Safe Haven, Mamma Mia, and The Holiday. Also, we watched a lot of Price is Right. We might have sat on our butts for 50% of this trip. What are vacations for?!

10 hands dipped in paraffin wax. It makes your hands oh-so-soft, but you look like a kid with chicken pox while doing it. Regan, Sara and I have great chicken pox faces.

9am = average wake-up time every morning. This takes into account that Missy regularly stayed in bed til 11am, while Lil got up at 7am.

8 spacious bedrooms with 12 beds... everyone could have their own bed!

7 rounds of Crazy Uno, also known as "Everything Sara Wants, Sara Gets"... because no one else can keep track of whose turn it is so all we can do is listen to her. Crazy Uno is like regular Uno on steroids... you can play out of turn at any time by laying down a card identical to what has just been played. This skips the people in between, and also doubles the penalty of the card. This means that if all 4 Draw-Four cards are played at the same time, the person who gets hit has to draw 16 cards. It's awful.

6 pots of coffee at IHOP. There were only 3 of us who even ordered coffee, so we're not quite sure why they brought us so many pots. But yay, breakfast for dinner!!

5 sequin outfits bought at Plato's Closet... We are quite sure that we will use them in the 2014 stage shows, which will somehow include music and dancing from the 80s. Everyone agreed to model them, but only if their faces weren't showing (the internet, ya know, it's permanent). It was a 20 minute ordeal to get this picture.... couldn't stop laughing. We can have so much fun for only $30!

4 late nights, full of snacks, movies, and lots of pillow talk. But also Sara getting up at 4 in the morning to feed and burp Cassidy. I have a new appreciation for being the mom of an infant.

3 home cooked meals... Donna makes awesome food. Enough said.

2 hours of tubing out on the mountain! Super steep hills and fast lanes and not very many people meant that we got a lot of rides out of the afternoon. Totally worth braving the cold!

1 adorable baby who officially captured our hearts. I think most of the pictures we took of this weekend were of Cassidy Page... just look at this face!!

 How can you not love her??

 Seriously. The cutest. 

PS, huge shout-out to Sara, Donna, Lil, Mel and Missy for helping me with all these numbers!