Monday, June 25, 2012

Fun Wall Decor

Like everyone else, I am addicted to Pinterest.  There are so many cute ideas and projects I hope to do in the future.  This past week, I finally did two of them! Thought I would share in case you want to dress up your house with these ideas...


I have been wanting to put up a collage of photos behind my dining table, but I wanted something else with it.  After breezing through websites to find ideas, I stumbled upon a Pinterest photo of a collage with this quote above it.  I was sold!  I bought my frames at Aaron Brothers during one of their buy one, get the second for 1 cent sales.  I tried a million different layouts, but decided on this one eventually.  I ordered the wall decal from LaNae from It's Written on the Wall.  She custom-made the decal to match the length of my collage and in the font I wanted.  I love it!! One of my close friends took all the family photos on a trip to the park, and she did an amazing job capturing our family.  I printed them all at Costco. I love the way this adds to my dining room, and the quote reminds me of how special my family is to me.


The second project I completed this week....a fun height chart!  This project was SO easy and very inexpensive. I followed the directions on 517 Creations blog only changing a few things.  The only supplies you need are a piece of plywood, stain in the color you desire, paint pen, clear coat enamel spray, and a ruler.

Step One:  Apply the wood stain to the wood using a brush and wiping off excess with a rag. I did 3 coats on each side waiting about half an hour in between coats.  Remember to do both sides of the wood just in case you goof on one side, you still have the other!


Step Two:  Using a ruler and pencil, draw the ruler marks on the left side of the wood an inch apart for each mark.  I made my "eighth" inch marks 1" long and my "quarter" marks 2" long.  I started my marks at 6" because I was planning to hang the finished ruler 6" off the floor.  This makes the entire "ruler" go up to 6 1/2 feet.  After you've measured all the lines in pencil, go over it with your paint pen. (Hint: Don't just use a regular Sharpie...it will smear! Buy a paint pen.)


Step Three: I wanted my ruler to look authentic, so I found a font on Microsoft Word that was similar to a real ruler. I chose Century Schoolbook bold.  I printed out the numbers (1-6) in 200 font and then cut them out.  I placed them on the ruler in the correct spots, and traced them in pencil.  Then I used my paint pen to cover the pencil and fill each number in.  Easy!

Step Four:  Spray the entire board (front and back) with Clear Enamel to protect your work. I did 2 coats. I would definitely use a spray because I read several tips on making this board that say their work was ruined because they painted the enamel on and it smeared the marks.




Step Five:  Hang your "ruler" and enjoy!  You can hang it with a sawtooth picture hanger.  We hung ours with the extra large velcro picture tabs because my husband didn't want to nail into the wall.  It seems to work well so far.  Use an artist's pen to mark your child's heights each year.  The pen I used is Faber-Castell PITT artist pen.

I had a blast trying these ideas out and LOVE how they turned out.  Let me know if you try them!!

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