Stop pinning...

Pinterest has become my new obsession inspiration. I call it 'creative facebook'. Spending an hour or two on pinterest doesn't seem like such a waste {or at least that's how I justify it.} I started realizing that I had all these great pins...ideas for recipes, projects, checklists, photos...but very little to show for it. Hence my new motto, 'Stop pinning, start doing.'

This was one of my very first pins. I've been wanting to tackle this project for a long time, but haven't been able to find small wooden letters. {This retails for $317 USD!}

Source: notonthehighstreet.com via Lyndsey on Pinterest

And when I saw this quote floating around, I knew I wanted my letters to read some version of it. I was on a mission.

Source: None via Lyndsey on Pinterest

Did a little thinking, a little tweaking, a little shopping, a little creating. This is my finished product. I spent about $15 on the entire thing.

Here's how I did it...

I've had this canvas for months. Just waiting for the perfect project.

I knew I wanted my words in the bottom left corner. You only need to paint background color where your words will be. {You don't need a background color at all if you want the white of the canvas to show through your top coat.}

I used the last of this tube of cobalt blue acrylic.

Spread the background color evenly. Let dry.

Finding a bag of small card stock letters at a stationary store was the last piece of the puzzle. They're the perfect size and I love the font.

Place letters and play with the spacing until they're where you want them.

{I ran out of E's.}

Double sided tape, pressed firmly onto the letter,

but gently onto the canvas so they will come off easily.

Paint on your top coat color.

I held onto the letters as I painted to be sure they didn't move. Make sure to get all the nooks and crannies. I wasn't worried about the paint bleeding under the letters a bit...you'll need to be more careful if you want the edges to be perfect.

Let the top coat dry and pull up the letters. If you use cardstock or a thinner paper like I did, you may want to take up the letters before the paint is completely dry. I found that some of the edges of the letters got stuck in the dry paint.

A safety pin to help keep the paper from ripping as I peeled off the letters.

At this point, I was planning on covering the rest of the canvas in brown. As I looked at it though, I really liked the messiness of the blue.

I decided to keep the brown on the bottom half. I painted a thin line of brown all the way around, but left the edges of the canvas blue.

I used my tweezers to pick off as much of the paper from the edges of the letters as I could.

Hanging above our bed.

It's so satisfying to start and finish a project in an evening...and then to be able to enjoy it every evening after that.