She's Crafty (What's My Mutha Funkin' Name?)

I spent my weekend working away on the house. ADD Daddy and I finished three projects in the kitchen (to come in future post, keep your pants on!) and one big one in the living room. By big, I mean over six feet of wall sassy-fied for under $50!

I never really felt like the wall to the left in this picture looked right. The three 8 x 10s I hung there looked nice and all, they were just a little dwarfed by the large wall space they were on (poor guys. don't worry, they weren't harmed in the making of this post, only relocated to the basement). Then, of course, Pinterest had to intervene. Bitch.

I saw these pinned to someone's board and was inspired. But the bummer of this pin was: no instructions, only a place to purchase the finished product. They were super cute, but with the price hitting almost a hundo with four frames (to spell out our last name, Deem) and shipping, I knew I could do better. I was on my own. But don't fret, Boozehounds. You aren't on your own. The Beer Bitch has you covered. Let's get started, shall we?

Materials needed:

Stretched Canvases
Enough canvases to spell out what you want to spell out. I reused some old 18" x 18" canvases I had from a previous project, but here is a set of three 8 x 10" canvases for $15! Damn I love me some Amazon.

Fabric
Two yards more than covered my job of four large-scale frames. I bought mine for $9.99 a yard (half off) at Hancock. I imagine if you did four 8 x 10s, one yard would cover you.


Staple Gun and Staples
Don't forget staples. Seriously. I ran out mid-way onto the first frame and almost had a rage stroke. And BTW, using a staple gun makes me feel like She-Ra: Princess of Home Improvement. I highly recommend it. For reals.


Wooden Letters
I bought 13" letters at Hobby Lobby for $3.49 per letter.


Spray Paint
I bought two cans of Krylon Sun Yellow at Walmart for $3.67 per can. If you do 6" letters, one can should be good.

So, you got all your goods and you are ready to get this home improvement party started, right? Ok, let's rock. First things first: Read ALL instructions before beginning. I never do this and it always bites me in the ass later. Trust me.

Done reading? OK, First off, set a drop cloth down in a well-ventilated area (or UN-ventilated if you are feeling frisky). Then, spread your letters out.

Next, get your spray paint on. In thin, even coats. Move the can back and forth in a slow, fluid motion, about eight inches from the letters. Let them dry in between coats. Don't forget to paint the sides! Mine took about four coats. In hindsight, I would have slapped a coat of real base paint on them first since the letters I used where cheap and porous, not real wood.

And now, we measure. Measure both sides of your canvas, then add three inches to both measurements. So, if you have an 8 x 10 canvas, your final measurements will be 11 x 13.

Now, mark those measurements on your fabric and cut. Do this as many times as you have frames. (If you have a fabric with a large pattern and are making more than one frame for a series, make sure the top, bottom and sides of each cut are at the same place, so you have a fluid pattern. Scroll down to the picture where all four canvases are already covered in fabric so you will get an idea of why this is important. If I would have just cut, there would be no fluidity in the pattern.)

Lay out all of your fabric and canvases and ensure that each of the four sides are at the same place in the pattern on each square (this will matter later if you are using a pattern and doing more than one. Trust me.)

Fold the fabric over the back of the canvas and staple. I stapled about every three inches. Staple one entire side, then do the opposite side so the fabric will be tight and the pattern even. Then get to work on the final two sides.

Tada! Where there once was plain canvas, there is now a pretty pattern. Impressive, no?

Wash, rinse and repeat until you have covered all of the canvases. (See here why it matters that you took the time to line up the pattern?)

Now, I am a redneck at heart, so I super glued my letters on. In hindsight, I might have went with a thicker letter and stapled them to the fabric for durability. Your call, but if you staple, be sure to put a towel under the letter/canvas so you don't scrape your pretty new paint job off while stapling. Also, no matter what you do, make sure that the letters end up in the same space on each canvas. This was easy with my square, blocky letters, but I can see it getting cray cray with a quickness with letters of varying width.

All my ducks are finally in a row. Now just time to hang them.

 Since the canvas is stretched, leaving a gap between the canvas and wood, I just hung each canvas balanced on the wood by two nails. Works great and no need to readjust every time you slam a door (not that I ever do that. SHUT UP! slam!).

Before (Meh.)

After (Yay!)

Hope you Boozehounds likey. Feel free to contact me with any questions. And if anyone tackles this project, send pictures!