Around The House: DIY Kitchen/Dining Room Art

If you’ve been a reader of my blog for very long then you know that ‘frugal’ is my middle name. If I had a second middle name it would be ‘indecisive’. I have a really tough time purchasing things for my home because I’m never sure of exactly what I want to do with *insert product that I will carry around the store for 20 minutes and then put down, feeling deflated* or if I absolutely love it, it doesn’t seem worth the price (even though it probably is). Our house remained fairly void of character for a long time because I talked myself out of everything I thought about buying. Everything.

A few weeks ago I noticed an old frame of photos hanging in our entry way. I put the collage of photos together back when we still lived with my husband’s parents. Basically, I was displaying a collage of our awkward teenage love phase in the entry of our married adult home and I thought – this frame could serve a much better purpose and these photos need to go in an album somewhere! Because I am the kind of person who wants what she wants and I want it right now, there was no time to order a cute print to go in the frame. Besides, I could never decide on one and they would all be too expensive anyway! So I made one. I’ve seen this phrase everywhere and whether I speak it out loud or not – it is a pretty accurate description of how I feel every morning upon waking.. and then every 3-4 hours after I am awake. I thought it would be perfect to hang in the kitchen! Now .. I’m using the term “DIY” loosely here because all I really did was draw on some paper and frame it, y’all. But it was fun and maybe it will inspire you to draw on some paper and frame it too. ;]

You Need:
♥ A frame =)
♥ Scrapbook paper – I have a giant book of different prints/patterns that cost me a few bucks at Michaels.
♥ Washi tape
♥ A pencil and Sharpie
♥ Glue stick

Start by picking out the paper you want to use. My frame was larger than the sheets of scrapbook paper I used so I chose two pieces that I could fit together seamlessly. I put the polka dot paper on top and framed it/attached it to the paper behind it with two different types of washi tape – a solid teal and a clear with teal and gold triangle print. I then picked out a calligraphy font online that I liked, I used this one. I drew two straight lines spaced out onto the paper with pencil to keep my letters straight. I looked at the letters carefully and drew them free hand on the polka dotted paper with a pencil. I erased and redid some of the lettering until I felt like it looked how I wanted it. After I was satisfied, I went over the pencil with a Sharpie and filled in the letters. Note: This is the cheaters way of getting the look of calligraphy, but it works! After the lettering was all finished I searched for a simple coffee cup clip art, picked out another piece of scrapbook paper, and drew the outline of the cup on it with a pencil. I cut out my cup, traced the edges with Sharpie, and placed it beneath the lettering. I drew the steam freehand with pencil to fill the space that I unintentionally left blank and outlined it in Sharpie. Popped the whole thing back in the frame and TADA!! Kitchen/Dining art! Of course, you could use whatever phrase you want and it could be art for any room. Make sure you erase all of your pencil marks – I was eager to be done and hung mine up before realizing I forgot to erase!

**If you aren’t great at eyeballing your letters or the coffee cup – just print them out to trace or cut them out/glue them directly on!