30 Before 30: Create Art for the House

I'm guest posting today over at Standpipe & Sprinkles.  Katie has an adorable family and she blogs about life as a stay-at-home mom to her little girl, Maile, and wife to her husband who is an oilfield worker. You should check her blog out...now!

I'm very happy to report that I tackled my very first 30 Before 30 project. One project that I’ve been seeing on Pinterest a lot lately is, in essence, a painting.  I can barely draw a decent circle, so I never pinned it because I figured that I would never be able to tackle anything involving both paint and a canvas.  But! I made it a goal to create art for the house and I felt this was as good a project as any.  

This project originated at Two Girls Being Crafty and they base it off a print from World Market.  They made it look pretty approachable so I decided to jump in. 

Branch and Circle Wall Art a.k.a Wall Art for Non-Artists

What You’ll Need

Canvas (Size is up to you.  I used 20x24 inches).

Cream colored paint.  You can use spray paint or acrylic. Don’t forget a brush if you use acrylic. 

Acrylic paint in whatever colors you want.  I used a navy blue, dark purple, lavender, seafoam green, and goldenrod.  I already had the navy blue on hand and the others were the cheapest I could find in the right colors.

1 Brown Paint Pen.  I used Elmer’s (If you can’t find it at a craft store, Walmart has them).

Round sponges in different sizes

What You’ll Do

1.        Lay your canvas on a flat surface and, using the cream colored paint, cover the canvas.  After I covered the top, I had a bit of a problem.  I didn’t have a drop cloth or anything to put under the canvas while I painted the sides, so I had to get creative.  I had a small stool that I wrapped tape around.  Then I put the canvas on top so that it would move while I painted the sides.  If you want to recreate my experience, I’d recommend cranking some pop music while you’re painting.  We’re talking One Direction, Carly Rae Jepson, or the Biebster.   

2.       After the paint is dry, remove the canvas from its pedestal.  It’s time to make some branches!  And you might want to switch your playlist to Zac Brown Band’s newest album “Uncaged.”  It will put you in a rustic, branch-drawing mood.  I was pretty nervous about this part because it’s the only real drawing you have to do.  I made some practice branches and realize that branches are just lines.  And they don’t even have to be straight!

3.        Give those branches some time to dry and, if you’re like me, make some dinner and spray paint random objects in your house in the name of crafting.

4.        Now it’s time to put some color on there!  I recommend switching that playlist back to pop music.  Using your round sponges, add circles to the canvas one size circle at a time.  The Martha Stewart sponges I used come out of their holders, so I used both sides.  I started with the lightest colors and then moved to the darker colors so I wouldn’t have to clean the sponges and then wait for them to dry.  What can I say?  I’m inpatient.  Besides, this method worked pretty well.

5.       Keep adding circles until you’re happy.  You might need to add more branches.  I did because I realized I didn’t have enough branches going to the top of the canvas and I didn’t have enough on the right.  Your circles are supposed to attach to either the branches or each other, so you need plenty of branches.  

The great thing about this project is that it’s completely customizable.  Everything from the colors you use to the size of your circles to how many circles you include is completely up to you.   I don’t think it’s possible to mess this one up.  I hung my final project over the tv with some fun fabric in embroidery hoops.