Until we moved into this house together in August, 2013 I had been living happily in a very tiny downtown apartment. While it was tiny, it was perfect for me. Just the right amount of space for me to decorate and add my personal style/flair to. It really did “scream” Annie from the second you walked in the door.
Once we moved in together I had a pretty big task ahead of me - combining our two unique styles into one (ok, let’s be honest, Matt doesn’t have a style, but I do try and accommodate his more masculine requests). This house is obviously bigger than my apartment was - afterall, that apartment wasn’t even 700 sqft!!
The amount of wall space in this home is almost overwhelming to me! Not to mention the fact that all the walls are concrete and pretty much impossible to nail into. If Matt isn’t “feeling it”, I don’t get anything up on the walls because I don’t have the strength needed to puncture the walls! I’m thinking of making the switch to Command hooks, but I have my doubts they can hold the things I want up on the wall and I’m afraid they will fall and break :/
But I digress, this post is actually about quick, easy and cheap art! Since I am obsessed with filling the blank spaces, I am always looking for wall art. The problem is that wall art is almost never affordable, at least not the “we just bought a new home and don’t have a ton of extra money sitting around” kind of affordable.
BUT, while wondering around the aisles at Hobby Lobby (one of my favorite past times) I noticed these adorable vinyl wall decals. They have blue birds on them, BLUE BIRDS! So I couldn’t pass them up. However, I am not one of the wall decal type of gals, I loathe them generally. So I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t compromise my style just because of a few cute blue bird decals!
Seriously, BLUE BIRDS!
I wanted them though, I really, really did. So, I wondered the aisles more (that’s where I do my best thinking!) until I had a solution. I would simply grab a few canvases that were on sale (4 for $4 - hell to the yeah) and paint those a pretty pale blue, then I’ll MOD-PODGE the decals onto the painted canvases - instant art!
Step 1:
Paint the canvases in whichever color you wish. Making sure to paint the sides of that canvas, as those are the parts that will show your chosen color the most (vinyl will cover the middle/front of the canvas). As you see here, I'm all about efficiency, so I didn't even bother with painting the center.
Step 2:
After your canvases have dried (minimum of 1 hour) position your first vinyl piece exactly where you wish to have it on the canvas. DO NOT remove the paper backing, no need to actually adhere the vinyl to the canvas with anything other than Mod Podge.
Step 3:
Use Mod Podge to apply the vinyl to the canvas. Don't worry about bubbles, they will work themselves out as the Mod Podge dries.
Step 4:
Wait 4 hours for the vinyl to free itself of all bubbles and beautiful itself and ta-da! DONE :)
Instant Bird Art!
.JPG)
.png)
