super-easy (FREE!) wall art...

3.24.2011
My husband just recently finished remodeling our bathroom...and it is aw-aw-awesome...I love it. I really wanted to go for something a little more feminine than our other bathroom (which screams "MASCULINE!" - well, not literally screams it...that would be creepy) and I'm completely into French Country design right now...so, perfect palette!

It was so much fun picking out lighting (my neat-o new chandelier), the shower curtain, even the bathmat...but, I had no idea what to put on the walls...I didn't want to make them too busy, but I wanted something...and I wanted it to fit with the look I was trying to achieve.

Ahem...and here's where it gets cool...why not MAKE some wall art???? Now, I know I'm not the first person in the world (or even in my neighborhood) to actually create something to hang on the walls, but I was pretty darn happy that I was able to do this, and I was able to do it for free.

Now, linen is my absolutely bestest fabric in the whole wide world...(and yes, I know "bestest" is not a word - but I have a 7 year-old who loves Junie B. Jones & I can't get her grammar out of my head...;)). It is just about the perfect material...it can be dressed up or down, embellished, left rough, whatever. And, to me, it always looks awesome when used in decorating.

So, what do you think?


Please excuse the LARGE window glare...

Like it?

So, this is what you do (and if you've ever done any sort of project around your house, you probably have all of these items on hand):

*Take a remnant piece of linen (or any non-printed fabric you have...preferably not too heavy-weight) and spray the back with repositionable craft adhesive. BUT, before you spray it, make sure it's ironed well...we don't want any wrinkles on our new snazzy artwork.

*Then take a piece of computer paper and lie it down onto the sticky side of the fabric. Press it down so that it sticks well and so that the fabric won't move.

*Wait for this new fabric/paper combo to dry (I waited about 1/2 hour...I had some laundry to fold).

*Take your paper cutter, or scissors, or whatever you have that gives you a nice clean cut and cut the extra fabric from around the computer paper. You should have an 8/5x11 piece of fabric/paper left.

*Go online and find the royalty-free graphics you like and want to add to your art (I found my laurel wreath at The Graphics Fairy) and download it. Play around with it and resize it to fit on your 8.5x11 sheet of fabric/paper...

then...

*Pop the combo into your printer (fabric side up...or however you need to to get the printing on the fabric side) and voila...instant art!

Now, I was scared at first about putting fabric into my printer...but seriously, it was completely stuck to the paper and the linen was thin enough that the combo made a piece of "paper" that was not much thicker than Bazzill cardstock. No problems at all!

One tip: make sure the design you are printing out is not too lightly colored (unless you're printing on white). I had to re-do mine a couple of times to make sure I got the look I wanted...the gray I wanted kept coming out too light.

Scout around for an unused frame, pop your design into it, and...wait for it...art.

*I left the computer paper stuck to the back of my linen to give it a little more stability, but you can just peel it off if you need/want to.*

Best part is, if I decide next week that I don't like it (which won't happen, because I love it), I can just take it down, toss it, and print out something else. Oh yeah.

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