Looking around at all the design and decor mags in the past few years, we couldn’t help but notice a prevalence of stenciled word art pieces adorning people’s homes. From simple colloquialisms to lyrics of entire Bonnie Tyler songs (oh, oh yes), word art seems to be popping up everywhere.
Why pay hundreds of dollars for such an awesome and highly customizable piece when this cries out for a do-it yourself project!
What you’ll need:
A surface. You can pick up stretched canvas at your local craft store or discount store. But don’t let your imagination stop there — any flat surface your wall can support is fair game! Think planks of weathered wood, fabric in a frame, or even a plate!
A stencil. Depending on the size of your surface and the words or phrase (or song) you want to use as art, decide on a letter size and find a stencil. Small to medium ones are available at craft and hobby stores, whereas large ones can be found at home improvement stores.
Paint. Use what you’ve got! Who doesn’t have some spare primer and some leftover or oops paint in their basements or garages? Or if you have a specific color scheme in mind, you can get craft paint at a craft store or a pint of wall paint at a home improvement store. If you’re not very confident of your painting abilities when it comes to the letters, get a paint pen.
Once you prep your surface (or not — it’s up to you!) and figure out your saying, use the stencil trace out the letters of your art with a pencil. It may be useful to have a straight edge handy to make sure the letters are plumb … or not, if you like the look of more freehand.
After you trace out the letters, use an appropriate size paint brush and fill in your letters. If you opted for a paint pen, just color in the letters! Be prepared to go a couple of rounds with it if you want to make the color more vibrant or saturated.
Let dry according to the directions on your type of medium, and then if you like, coat the project with a sealing topcoat of spray paint. Or, if you’re up for more of a challenge, try different aging techniques or faux finishes to give your project that extra depth and oomph you so often find in pre-made art.
And there you have it! A super easy and awesomely personal statement art piece for your home, office, man cave, bathroom, nursery, or wherever else you can dream up to put it!
Photo courtesy of ApartmentTherapy [www.apartmenttherapy.com]
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