Photo By: Hannah Porter
Word art has become more and more popular over the last five years from finding it at stores to numerous DIY ways to execute it. I have usually found that buying word art either doesn't say quite what I want it too and/or if it does it's a little to expensive for me.
I like to have words around my house that have personal meaning to our family. That can encourage, inspire and remind us of truth and/or share part of who we are.Some of my favorite word art is often lyrics to hymns or songs that have greatly impacted our family and drawn us to Hope in the Lord. Some of the pictures in this post reflect a few of those songs. Other pictures are of fun art in the kids rooms. And still yet there are ones I am working on currently that will be added to this post later.
Since I wanted my word art personalized AND something I could afford, of course I turned to Pinterest. After looking through way too many pins I found my favorites and tweaked them (because as an avid DIY girl I have to make it my own 😉).
My top favorites I have used in my house are word art on canvas and word art on wood. Today's post will focus on word art on canvas because it is what I have done the most of so far and because I think the majority of people are more likely to pick up a pack of canvas from the craft store then find or buy wood and stain it etc. These are not difficult but they do require time and patience (*before you don't think you have either one of those and you give up before starting this project read below to see how I combat these two things 😃).
SUPPLIES
*These supplies are for two types of canvas art. The basic plain canvas with sharpie and the painted canvas with painted words*
Canvas-in whichever size you would like. (Tip: if you know you will be doing a few canvas art projects then I highly suggest getting the canvas packs at Michael's to get the best bang for your buck. I usually either get them on sale or use a 40%off coupon on their app)
Words-printed and cut out
Sharpie- regular size
Ruler
Paint- Acrylic, spray, or really any paint you have on hand in the color you want
Paint Brush- fine tip for words and regular size for background paint
Process
*I took some photos last time I created one to help give you a visual (below)*
Step 1: Pick the words you want to display and then grab a canvas size that will fit them. If you are wanting a background color then go ahead and paint the front and sides of your canvas with your paint. Otherwise just leave it blank.
Step 2: Find a font you like on Word or any place you prefer and type up your words. You will want to enlarge them ALOT!! Then print! It will most likely be a few letter's per page when printed (depending on how large you are wanting). This will be a little trial and error to get the right size that you want and may require printing a few times before you get what your looking for.
Step 3: Once those words are printed you will start cutting them out (HINT: if you are using a letter multiple times with the same font then you only need to cut it out once). You will cut out each letter individually unless it's one that is a duplicate. In that case just cut around the word/letter to place on your canvas so you can line up the order your words go in.
Step 4: Once all of the letters are cut, line them up in the exact order that you want the final outcome to look like. Then begin tracing the letters with your pencil. Use the ruler as your guide to keep the letters/words aligned evenly across the canvas.
Step 5: When all the letters are traced you are ready to begin filling in your letters. This is the point that you choose either paint or sharpie. Have a couple sharpies on hand to rotate between and begin filling in each letter (this part goes pretty quickly once you get the hang of it). You get to go back to your childhood coloring days with the reminder to “stay inside the lines” for the best and cleanest look. If using paint it's the same method of filling in each letter with paint (a little goes a long way).
Let set for a few hours and congrats!! Your artwork is ready to be hung or placed wherever you want!
*I don't know many people that would say they have time or patience. In the midst of raising a 5,4 and 2 year old right now I certainly don't feel like I do. I will often work on these for months when I can find a few moments. Usually when kids are in bed at night and only when I'm not already passing out on the couch or in a pile of laundry right after their bedtime 😉😃.
You can do it!!! The result, a customized phrase that speaks to you. And, like any DIY you can say you did it yourself!!
Check out the DIY photo gallery for more examples of finished products!
-Beth
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