Instant Moments

Some Instagram moments from January so far...

Oversized Poster Tutorial (Easiest Tutorial Ever!)

 Yesterday I showed you some poster sized prints I added to our porch for a bit of a modern punch. Today I will show you how I made them. This is the single easiest tutorial I think I could ever possibly write. Seriously! In fact, I am not sure it really even qualifies as a "tutorial". The whole project only requires three items and can be done in less than 5 minutes. And it should cost you less than $10. I think mine cost right around $7 each. The only special talent you need to have for this project - being able to fold a piece of paper and press a piece of tape down! Yup - that's it! For the tutorial I am about to show you Lillie and our nine year old neighbor, Chloe did it themselves while I took the photos. 

I have to say I have LOVED this project and had so much fun with it that we've already made five different ones (three for the porch - one we switched out, one for Lillie's room, and this one for Chloe and Bayley). That being said these don't really replace a true canvas. They are great for places like porches, playrooms, kids bedrooms, etc. but personally I probably wouldn't put them in our living room as I think they look a little too "papery" up close. So, if you are looking for the higher end look of canvas I wouldn't try this. As long as you are okay with a fun project that still looks crisp and clean then I think you will like this! I have seen quite a few tutorials on pinterest for a similar look, including this fabulous one from Sugar Bee Crafts that use spray adhesive and mod podge, and house insulation. I think if you can do that right they probably have a slightly more high-end finished look to them but I tried three times to make some using those instructions and just ended up with a wrinkly mess. Not sure if I just rushed through the project too much or if I can blame it on the fact that my helper is three. =) And I couldn't for the life of me get the house insulation to cut in a perfectly straight line - oh well! Either way I wanted the same oversized look but needed it to be easier and here is what I came up with.

Okay, so here is what you need:

Any Kind of Tape

 20" by 30" Piece of White Foamboard ($4.49 at our Staples)

24" by 36" Engineering Print from an Office Supply Store ($2.99)

(I used Staples and just uploaded my picture online and then picked it up a few hours later.) 

UPDATE: We've had a few people comment that on the Staples website it says the engineering prints are not suitable for photos. It does say that but I just ignored it. I have been completely happy with all but one of the prints. I used high resolution photos for all but one and they were very crisp and sharp. The one that turned out blurry (still usable but just not as crisp as the others) was not as good a quality shot to begin with and that is why it didn't print as well. So, just make sure you are using a high resolution photo and it should be fine! 

This is the foamboard I used. The 20 by 30 size worked perfectly for me but you could easily trim it down.

Now, just lay your print face down and then place the foamboard down on top of it in the center. Fold up one long side and tape it in the middle and then pull it as tightly as possible on the other side and tape it. If you would like you could use double stick tape on a few spots on the front to hold it perfectly tight and flat but I didn't bother with that. Then after you fold the long two sides over fold the other two sides and tape them in the middle.

Then just fold the corners like this and add more tape. Basically it's like you are wrapping a present. 

You can just lean it up on a dresser or something like that but if you want to hang it just use any type of string, twine, yarn, etc. and hotglue it on the back.  The poster is so lightweight that's all you need!

And there you have it! Now just hang it up on a little nail or one of those 3M Command strips. 

(That's what they are hung on out here on our porch).

I told you it was easy! 

I have considered adding some mod podge on the top of it but am a little scared too...we'll see. If I do I will update this post and let you all know how it turned out.

Here are the girls with the finished product! Lillie and Chloe did this one themselves while Bayley was super sweet and played with Lola while I took the step by step pictures. 

In between the tutorial shots I got this one of Lola playing peak-a-boo with Bayley on the daybed.

If you would like to view more of our tutorials just click here.

I hope you all have a fabulous Tuesday!

Oversized Chevron Picture Frame Tutorial

A little while ago I saw this frame on Pinterest from a really talented Etsy artist, Delta Girl Frames but realized that they were really hard to get your hands on and out of my price range, so I thought I would make my own. The one above was a gift for my sister, Dana a little while ago but didn't want to post until I had given it to her. I recently saw one of my blog friends, Melaine, make something similar as well (love the pattern she used!) so I guess I wasn't the only one with this idea - haha! I have to say although I love the idea, I didn't execute it as well as I had hoped to. I did the chevron way too big. I was going for bold but I made it way too bold. For Dana's I didn't distress it too much because I didn't think that would go as well with the style of her city apartment. (I made some for myself too, and I distressed those a bit more - I will show you them tomorrow and where I put them).

The cool part about these is that it is really easy to change out the photo!

1) First I painted a 24 by 24 inch board gray. 

For Dana's I used London Fog and Ballet White.

2) Then I measured out every six inches and made a little dot with chalk.

 (I wish I had done every three or every four inches instead though).

3). With the chalk I connected the dots to make a chevron pattern.

4) Then I taped it off so that I could paint in every other v of the pattern.

5. Then I just used a roller and painted it in and then removed the painters tape once it was dry and then cleaned up the chalk marks (you can see them before I got rid of the chalk on the upper line here in the picture below).

 

 6). For mine, I then sanded them down and then rubbed this stain over them.

 6) I hammered in a small nail to hang the frame on.

7). Then I just popped a Dollar Store frame on the nail and hung it on the wall!

And yes, I think the frame looks a little funny there, this is what I actually have above that bench but needed to photograph Dana's frame somewhere, and that was a nice easy spot that already had a hook.

I also wanted to let you know we have restocked our Elizabeth Placemats again:

I hope you have a fabulous Monday! I will be back tomorrow to show you the five I made for our house and where I put them.