Pages

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Pinterest Challenge: DIY Geometric Art


Last week I saw that some of my favorite famous bloggers - John and Sherry from Young House Love and Emily Henderson (my original design crush) - are participating in a Pinterest Challenge.  They encouraged everyone in the blogosphere to join in, which means that I promised myself that I would complete one DIY project inspired by a Pinterest photo by this morning.  And I did it!  Barely.

At first I wasn't sure what to do, and considered trying to paint some furniture, but then came across a couple of my pins featuring geometric shapes on a canvas and on a headboard (with nailheads, but you get the idea)  I decided to get crafty and try again to make some art for my living room.

Here's what I did:

1. First, I repainted a canvas I already messed up so it was white again.  Then, I used blue painters tape to mark off a design that I liked.  I decided that chevron print was too expected, so I went for something similarly easy to execute that was inspired by the headboard photo.


2. Then, I opened the can of my leftover wall paint and went to town covering the untaped areas with Martha Stewart Living paint in Plumage.  Then I waited. 

3. Once the paint cured, I peeled away the tape and was sad.  Every one of my paint lines bled in a totally obvious way.  At one point, I yelled "Eff you Scotch painters tape!" and almost deleted this post.    (Quick Rant:  I am so sick of this tape not sealing on walls or craft projects, despite my going over the sides with a straight edge.  I have since learned that I am supposed to seal the edges with more white paint and then let that dry before adding my top coat of color - lesson learned.  However, Scotch and I have broken up anyway.  I'll use another brand next time.)


4. Once I had a Diet Coke and calmed down, I realized there was nothing to lose but time and decided to try and fix the edges.  I put white paint in an old lunch meat container (the best paint trays!) and found a tiny watercolor brush, then painstakingly retraced all of the edges to cover the teal paint that bled through.  The end result is not perfect, but much better than before.  


All in all, I like my painting.  It has character, and captures the modern look I've been trying to find for my space.  However, I realize it is too small for the wall above my table and a larger canvas would work much better.  I will probably end up moving this piece to my guest room and starting over again in a few weeks.

However, I'm glad to have taken the time to try a new project, and am excited to keep painting!

Did any of you take part in the Pinterest challenge?  What is your best (or worst) DIY adventure? 

Also, if you're an active Pinner, be sure to scroll down and add your link to my Pinteresting post so I can publish a list for everyone to bookmark!

16 comments

  1. Very cute and modern- two thumbs up!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fabulous job picasso!! I'm inspired to do the same!!

    btw - omg i'm officially madly in love with Erik Norton. Honestly, he moved to my #1 favorite vampire slot, edward cullen is now #2.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oooooh, seal the edges with paint! That's genius! I've had the same frustration with painter's tape.

    I think that your piece turned out great!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It turned out pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself! But I'm pretty sure I would've drop kicked it across the room after the first snafu...and who knows if I would ever have picked it back up (c: So kudos that you are a more determined DIYer than me and it paid off!!! (c:

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a fantastic DIY - I love how it turned out!

    ReplyDelete
  6. ha! just found your blog b/c your title caught me. at my last count I own over 40 cardigans and pretty much wear one 4-5 days a week! Also, nice job on the painting!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love this DIY project! I'm not much good with DIY -- have chairs I've been trying to paint for months. I do about a coat of paint every two - three weeks. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I just did this project last night too! Have you ever used frog tape? It's the green tape and the trick is to NOT wait to peel, you have to peel immediately after you are done painting. Sounds weird, but it works every time. I love how your painting turned out, great job!

    (Found you from YHL)

    ReplyDelete
  9. i think it turned out great!! and LOVE the idea of using a lunch meat tray.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You did a great job! I love that challenge!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Saw your Pinterest challenge on YHL and loved it! I added it to my board and can't wait to try my hand at it. You did an amazing job and it turned out great. I'll 2nd what Katie above said...Frog tape plus semi-immediate peeling = much easier!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Followed your link from Danielle Oakey's page. Turned out swell!

    ReplyDelete
  13. PS-I own a cardigan for almost every day of the month...My friends wanted me to start a 12 step program because of my little clothing obsession.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...