Framed Letters

We have this wall in our living room that is really plain...

I will say that the bar used to be filled with things that made it look a little more decorative, but I am not going to lie and say it was every really much of an exciting wall.  We don't spend that much time downstairs so I have never really had the urge to do anything over there.  

When Maddox started walking that filled bar became a very big danger!  I have recently removed everything from the bar and plan to sell it on Craigslist.  Now the wall looks extra boring.  I realized I had pinned a bunch of things on Pinterest and I thought I could change this boring wall into a Pinterest Wall! 

My friend Amy made Maddox this awesome growth chart from a Pin she saw on Pinterest.  I knew that I wanted it to be a part of the wall.

The first pin that I decided to try was these framed letters...

When I opened the link it took me to a blog.  It did not take me to the exact post, but just the blog in general.  I felt that this picture was inspiration enough, but here is the link in case you want to search for it.  Framed Letters 

Maddox and I went on a shopping day and searched for the supplies to do something like this in our house.  Our family name is much too long for the wall I picked so I needed to pick another word.  I decided on LOVE since it is short and will be a good description for the photos and other crafts I plan to incorporate on my Pinterest Wall.

First we stopped at a dollar store since there are so many posts about how people spray paint mismatched dollar store frames for crafts like this.  I must have gone to the wrong dollar store.  There were only two different styles of frames for me to choose from and they were both so tacky looking that I could not imagine them looking any better after a coat of spray paint.

After that we stopped at Michael's.  Their frame selection is so large that I knew I would be able to find something there!  They had lots of different frames, but I guess I am not that imaginative and decided that I wanted all of my frames to be the same style.  I found some plain black ones for $5 a piece and I figured I could find something to do with them using either paint or scrapbook paper and mod podge.

Then when I went to the wooden letter aisle to pick out my letters I saw these frames...

They were a dollar cheaper and seemed just the right size for the letters I picked out.  I texted Amy to see what color stain she used for the growth chart and she texted me back right away!  It's a good thing because I was able to get it at Michael's (and save 40%).


I also bought a few pages of scrapbook paper, but since I didn't have the fabric for my drapes with me I wasn't sure what would work.  

I had some fabric from the drapes in my dining room which hang on the wall opposite my new Pinterest wall.  I decided to try and use some of that fabric first to see if I like it.  (In the end I didn't like it so I switched it out for the scrapbook paper.  That is why the pictures suddenly change!)


Here is what I did:


First,  I cut my fabric to the same size as the backing of my frames.

Then, I put down a trash bag to clear off some workspace for the stain. 
 

 I just used that sponge brush to cover the surface of the frame completely.  

 Following the directions on the can I allowed the stain to set for 15 minutes.

I took one of Konrad's old shirts from the Goodwill pile and made a ton of rags.  That way I had plenty for this project and future projects!

I used those rags to wipe off the excess stain.  The color was nice, but it was not quite as dark as the growth chart that Amy had made.  I waited 4 hours and repeated the same process.

After I got the color I wanted I let them dry completely overnight.  During the drying time I painted the letters brown.  I had bought black letters and I wanted them to be brown.  I just used some acrylic paint that I had from another project to paint over the letter. 


As I started the first letter I remembered this Pin that I had seen before.

Push Pins for Painting

I decided to give it a try for myself.  For the most part it worked, but if you choose to do this I would recommend hammering them in just a little so they are a little more sturdy than mine were.

 

Once the frames and letters were dry it was time to put everything together.  I took all of the glass out of my frames and stored it away.  (You never know when some Pinterest project will require pieces of glass.)

This is when I decided to switch to the scrapbook paper and made a few quick cuts.

 

I decided it would be best to hot glue the paper onto the backing of the frames.  I was afraid that the weight of the letters would cause the paper to bend or tear if the paper was not adhered to the back.  I just used a dot in each corner.

 

 

Then I hot glued each letter in the center of the frame.

 

This is how they look all layed out together.  I promise they look much better in person.  it is hard to see the color of the paper and letters in this photo.

I have not put them up on the wall yet because I want to get all of my elements complete before I set up my Pinterest Wall!