DIY Project #1

With my parents away enjoying their 32nd wedding anniversary in San Diego with my aunt and uncle, I've taken the liberty of turning their home into my art studio.

All week, I've started project after project. One on their dining room table, another on the coffee table, still yet another on the bar counter in the kitchen. Occasional painting and drying sessions take place outside on the back patio.

Many of these DIY ideas came from pintrest, my new online addiction, and today I finished my first project.

I've wanted to get Matt & Carolyn's kiddos a special going away gift for a while now. They moved at the beginning of July after what seemed like a long process. I knew I wanted the gift to have our "special saying" on it but I didn't know how. I looked up necklace options on etsy knowing one had to be manly being Callum is ALL boy. But nothing seemed quit right. Until I found this idea. With a few tweeks to make it my own, I finished this DIY project today.

I bought two, 16 x 20 canvases, green + blue + white acrylic paint, three really crappy/not recommended/goat hair brushes and two packages of letters.

While people thought I painted on my parents living room carpet [are you nuts?!] I actually took the canvases into the backyard, spread out newspaper and painted on the porch.

I then spent two too many hours painting each letter white, and because I'm a perfectionist I painted two coats on each letter making sure I covered the outside edges.

 The finished project drying outside in the afternoon sun.

I am definitely happy with the finished product and cannot wait to mail this out in the next few days. This will then free up the dining room table, leaving a few loose projects to finish before my parents come home. Shh....