Apiary Sign [Mod Podge Tute]

More Bees in this Berger home! This time it's an "Apiary" sign with an image of a bee and a hive.

I got this sign for free, regardless of what that little sticker says. Z and I hit a yard sale right at the end and cleaned house with all our free goodies. I knew pretty quickly what I wanted to do with it. I saw this sign from Miss Mustard Seed. I loved the idea behind it and thought I could personalize it.

Z and I often call each other "B" as a nickname- {Becca Berger}.
I can't imagine how the nickname came about.

So obviously the bee is a perfect dual meaning. I did this bee lamp last week, but thought the house could use one more. 

I made my sign with a Mod Podge transfer technique that works for words and graphics but you will want to follow the tutorial exactly is you want good results. This project is excellent because you can transfer complicated images without leaving behind residue or shine around the pictures.
 
How I made mine:

[1] Sand and paint sign black

[2] Lightly sand and then paint sign white- took about three coats.

[3] Distress wood now,  before the image is transferred. The words will be too vulnerable to withstand sanding. 

[4] Paint one side of a piece of printer paper with Washable Elmer's Glue, getting complete coverage.

[5] The image: I grabbed my pictures offline {again.} I'm not selling these items, so I think it's legit to snag the pics.
 I just made my own  design for the word using Microsoft Word. I would strongly recommend using only black ink for the graphics.  My image had grey ink and it looked lilac! I had to use touch up paint to cover it.
You can change the image to "black and white" in Microsoft Word by clicking 1 button and it will remove shading and grey tones
Make sure to REVERSE THE IMAGE if you're doing words, again this is accomplished by the click of one button. {Google it if you're unsure of how to make these changes.}

[6] Once your paper is dry you can print out the image on the glued side.

[7] In this picture I am determining the spacing I wanted.
With that decided, you'll paint the wood with Mod Podge, try to only put Mod Podge where paper will be over it. It will leave shiny spots otherwise.
If this happens to you my suggestion is to decoupage the entire board so the whole thing is shiny. Do not try to sand the Mod Podge off- this did not turn out well for me!
Put the image face down on the wood. Make sure to rub it in order to get air bubbles out and to get a good adhesion. Leave it overnight, no peaking!

{It is possible that I take cardboard from Ikea every time I g, so that I can use then for projects.}

This is what mine looked like the next day.

[8] Wet the paper, dunk it in water or use a spray bottle, whatever method you like, just wet it down. You want the paper to be completely saturated. You'll know when it is wet enough because the ink will be much more visible through the paper. You can see at the top where the ink is darkening, becoming more visible through the paper.
 

[9] After the paper is soaked and has set for a couple of minutes you can gently peel the paper off. Don't rub or the ink can come off.

[10] I used craft paint to touch up the image a little. {Here's ^ the gallery wall when I was still adding to it!}

That's all I can think of girls! Let me know if you all have any questions. This technique was the bomb. I know other people have had problems with it- they say the ink won't transfer. I have never had problems, so follow the steps carefully!

This is the view into the living room. There are projects to do in every corner of that room. You can see the side of the TV. We are planning a special building project, which I am stoked about! Hopefully we an start that soon.

I pretty much love this project- the sign makes me smile.

Thanks for looking!

Update: Check out these AWESOME sites that graciously featured my sign!

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party page.

I'm also linked up here.

Wood Grain Initial Plaques

I've been working on a gallery wall for my front entry way. I thought I would some personalized typography would be the perfect thing to break up all the frames. I had two pieces of scrap wood. (Actually 2 blocks of wood from some "never got made" pinewood derby kits.)

But I remembered a number 7 that was made from Young House Love. Here's my take on that project.

 [1]  Sloppily stain one side of the blocks of wood.

 You could also leave it plain wood tone, but I used some clearance stain so that it would somewhat match the dark wood in my home.

 

[2] Using Microsoft Word {or something like it} choose your font, change your desired letter into the dimensions of the wood piece, & print it out.

  [3] Tape over the dry stain with painter's tape, covering the whole piece front. 

[4] Tape the printed letter over the painter's tape.

[5] Use an Exacto knife to cut out the letter, making sure to press hard,
cutting through the paper and tape.

[6] Peel off tape around your letter and paint 2-3 coats of paint, peel of letter shaped tape when final coat of paint is still wet.

[7] Apply clear coat.

[8] You can attach picture hanging hardware- or like in my case, just drill a hole with your Dremel for the nails to fit into.

Here's an up close of the finished plaques, it's a little hard to see the wood grain in the pics but I tried my best!

As always, thanks for for checking out my project! And a BIG thanks for these oh-so-fabulous sites who've featured this project!!

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party Page.
I'm also linked up here

✥ 15 Ideas for DIY Canvas Art ✥

I have a few blank canvases laying around the house so I've been scouring Pinterest, blogs, and Google Images for inspiration. I was looking for a variety of different ways to use my canvases, different techniques to employee.
 That's one of the best things about canvas art, it's so versatile. I thought I'd share some of my finds with you all, so that you may find some *inspiration* too!


{Some of these upcoming ideas I LOVE, some I like, others aren't really for me. But isn't that the beautiful thing about design? There is something for everyone!}

(One) Stencil 


 Subway art is HUGE right now, well I guess it has been for over a year. But a canvas is an excellent way to make you own.

-click on images to find links-

One more {super-sized} stencil project for good measure. This time, typewriter typography meets canvas.  I love it!

(Two) Fabric


These canvases, as well as the many other fabric covered canvases, are some of the funnest and most impactful choices out there.  Unfortunately this gorgeous example is from a discontinued blog, but I love how they applied fabric to make the branches spread out from the center.

(Three)  Vinyl 


Vinyl Over Paint: 
This little baby made the feature rounds a few months back. It is an excellent example of what can be done with a little chevron+vinyl ingenuity. Love me some turquoise!

Vinyl Under Paint: 
Not only does this look amazing (I love me some graphic art) but it's also a Pottery Barn knock off! Didn't Jennifer do an awesome job? I can't even tell the difference between hers and PB's!

(Four) Maps


Just like covering the canvas with paper, but a little more interesting- well at least in my opinion! I super love the map art, whether it is trending or not. Like it, love it, want some more of it.

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(Five) Paper 


I've seen quite a few versions of this project that have been framed in shadowboxes, but it looks just as cute in a canvas. This one was a sweet gift from a new mommy to her baby.

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(Six) Newspaper


Do you love this? Are you sensing a theme in my choices? Obviously I have typography on the brain.
This is a West Elm copy and I am loving it too. Think I may be copying this little guy in the near future.

(Seven) 
Tissue Paper 


This project has endless possibilities with all the different tissue papers out there. Then with the personalized monogram it's perfection!

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(Eight) Newspaper & Vinyl

This is the best of both worlds, newsprint and vinyl. I love how the image is continues to the next canvas.

 

(Nine) Paint

This project was created using a projector to paint a deer image on top of a painted canvas. I am a little obsessed with using deer images in decor. I would probably buy this canvas I like it so much! I think she did a fantastic job!

(Ten) Toilet Paper Rolls


Look at this ingenuity! How many toilet paper rolls have you thrown away in your lifetime? Well not anymore! Check out this creative use for an object we throw away all the time. My mind is swirling with the shapes I could make!

(Eleven) Card Stock Under Paint


Wt a little more dimension on your canvas, but still looking for simplicity? This could be the way to go.

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(Twelve) 

Paint & Image Transfer Technique

This was a fantastic idea! Tracy painted her canvas then used a Graphic Fairy image to recreate this Pottery Barn favorite. You'll have to check out how she used Mod Podge to transfer the image onto the canvas. 
So clever!

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(Thirteen) 
Scrapbook Paper


Here scrapbook paper is used to create a coordinated art grouping for a playroom.

(Fourteen) 

Wrapping Paper

Along the same lines, wrapping paper was used here to wrap large canvases. The definite pro for this choice would be size. You'd be able to do much larger pieces of art, on a small budget, ad if you used a spray adhesive and varnished them they could look legit! 

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(Fifteen) 
Photograph




And for our last idea, a strong finale from Sherri and John, making their own photo canvas. They saved a ton of money and will fill you in on the best adhesive for the job.

Oh yeah, and the project at the top- two Restoration Hardware Eye chart knock offs- that one was mine! SO I guess it was 16 DIY canvas art ideas! I used a poster and Mod Podge to make my art.

I hope these ideas get the creative juices going.

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party Page!

I'm also linked up here.