Simple Clean Word Art

I have had so much fun finding things to make on Pinterest that I have had to calm down a little and be pickier with my projects. No more rushing out to make every little thing, I want to make sure that I am making a project that has a purpose or a place. I have especially enjoyed making gifts for people! I have really liked the feeling of giving an item to someone that I put a lot of thought into. So, in the interest of simplyfiying things, I have been "calming" down how many Pinterest projects that I have been working on. I also have been more specific on my projects and trying to target areas of the house that still need some love/help. One room on the need list is our guest room.

Our guest room is still a work in progress. It’s hard to work with that room because it is so bright yellow! It was the first room we painted when we moved in and we wanted a bold color. Turns out the color is so bold, I think it glows! I have tried to tone it down by adding simple white accents. We don’t want to spend too much money on the room as it’s only a guest room and we are trying to keep finances in check. So in that vein, I painted most of the brown furniture white with leftover paint that I had. I also made and added a paintstick mirror that only cost me a couple of dollars. They definitely helped the room, but I have been looking for some nice art work for the walls to complete this simple design. I am not sure if the room will ever have a more “done” look, and we may decide to paint it, but I am hoping that the things that we add/do to the room will easily translate into another version of the room.

So I originally got the idea from this Pinterest pin. The idea is to create some simple clean word art for any area. I loved it, especially because I could make it so personal. I wanted to pick some phrases that would be calming and meaningful. Especially since it’s in a guest room, I wanted it to make the guests feel peaceful. Gotta find some way to combat that yellow, right? J

I purchased canvas from Joann’s craft store. They were having a sale, so I got two 11” by 14” for only $6, making them $3 each. I also got two packs of chipboard letters in white. I had a coupon so then ended up being about $2.20 a pack. I already had a tube of acrylic paint, so that made it nice. 

To make the signs, I wanted to find a calm peaceful phrase. I love the song that has the phrase "Be still and know", so that one was a must. To fins my other phrase, I goggled short Bible verses. Yup, that's how I roll around here, whip out the old Google in a pinch. :) I ended up really loving the phrase "The Lord bless you and keep you."

To make the letters line up straight, I split the phrases into chunks then roughly divided each board up into equal sections depending on how many chunks were needed. So for the Be Still board, I had four lines of text and a 14" board. I took an inch off the top and bottom and then broke it into 4 inch sections. I used a pencil to draw a really light line across horizontally. I decided to have the boards line up on opposite sides, so it made this really nice clean center look. 

I painted each board with the white acrylic paint all in one direction. so that it would be less noticeable. I had a terrible time with this part. It was a huge pain keeping the letters from making globby spots. Also, my paint brush kept leaving little pieces behind. 

After I let everything dry, I put them up in the guest room. I think that they add a nice simple touch. I hope that they are also soothing for our guests and make them feel welcome. So the rooms still glows, but I think that the picture is actually making it look much worse that it really is. The room is not quite so Orange either. The light and the camera are really highlighting the paint strokes. You don't notice them as much in real life. You can see the pictures from the bed and I think that they look great! Hope that you like them too.