DIY Wall Art

My mother was a school teacher for 27 years and every summer, a couple of weeks before school started, I’d go to the classroom to help her decorate the bulletin boards.  I loved going to her classroom and getting it ready for the first day of school and always love to write on the chalkboard and look at the old school map that hung on one wall.   The map seemed larger than life and I remember loving how it was hung, from two wood rods and a rope.

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The other day I came across a piece of wall art that was hung in a similar way and it brought back memories.  I decided I needed my own version of vintage school map style artwork in my home and so I created one.  Instead of using an image for my art piece, I decided to create a wall quote instead.

To create this piece I headed to Hobby Lobby and picked up two pieces of  their 36″ x 1″ x 1/4″ pine wood pieces and a 11″ x 14″ canvas.

 Once home I cut the wood pieces in half so that I’d have four 18″ long pieces and then stained them with Minwax stain sheets.

Next I cut the canvas off of the frame so that I’d have a loose piece of canvas.  To create a clean edge, I measured 1/2″ in on each side of my canvas, folded the edge under and secured it with stitch witchery.

Then I got busy hand lettering my quote using a Sharpie…Always Believe That Something Wonderful Is About To Happen!

Once I was done hand-lettering I glued the top and bottom edge of the canvas between two pieces of wood.

The piece now hangs as part of an eclectic gallery wall arrangement.

I love how this project turned out and the memories that it reminds me of.