Gallery walls are all the rave right now (at least in my world). Anyone with me? I’ve been playing around with one in our den and I’m really loving the way it’s looking. I feel like I’ve got a pretty decent base going on and my plan is to just add things as they catch my eye when I’m out running errands (aka grocery shopping at Target and getting distracted by all the pretties then dreaming of redoing the entire house while adding said pretties to my cart then trying to talk myself out of everything I just put in the cart, but not really trying that hard).
Our gallery wall started out with 2 pieces of wall art from Target (seriously you guys, the addiction is unreal), and some watercolors my Grandmother painted. I had been on the hunt for some fun and colorful farm animal prints to add to the wall when I stumbled upon Annette Bennett Art. Stop what you’re doing right now and check her out. She’s amazing. I settled on (3) 5×7 prints despite my strong desire to buy out her entire Etsy shop. My original plan was to frame the prints in simple white frames, but then while attempting to organize my craft closet which never seems to be organized, I came across some wooden plaques I had bought ages ago from Hobby Lobby and a bright idea popped into my mind. Don’t you just love when that happens? See below for step-by-step instructions to my bright idea 🙂
materials
- wooden plaques
- spray paint
- scrapbook paper
- pencil
- scissors
- mod podge
- paint brush
- artwork
- double-sided tape
step 1
paint the wooden plaques. easy enough, right? just lay some newspaper outside on a day that’s not too cold, place the wooden plaques on top and spray away (usually a couple coats will do it). be sure the side you spray first is completely dry before flipping over to spray the back.
i went with Rustoleum Paint & Primer in one in gloss coral because i had been wanting to add pops of pink to our den redesign without it being noticed by the husband. he doesn’t care much for pink home decor. i guess i can’t blame him.
step 2
once the paint is completely dry, trace the outline of the plaque onto the scrapbook paper of your choice and use scissors to carefully cut out the shape. this step probably took me the longest because i could only pick 3 of these amazing prints. is it normal to be so in love with paper?
i chose to cut out a shape that was the exact size of the plaque, but another option would be to cut out a smaller outline so that some of the painted surface shows after everything is said and done – a little trickier, but not too tricky.
step 3
use mod podge (or any other crafting glue) to affix the scrapbook paper cut-out to the wooden plaque. be sure to apply just a thin layer of glue and firmly press the paper down. you can trim any uneven edges at this point.
step 4
add your artwork! double-sided tape works great and will allow easy removal of the artwork in the future … you know, just in case you like to change your mind as much as I do 🙂
Talk about adding pops of color to your wall! Since adding these guys, I’ve also added a mirror and a puppy dog print that I’m madly in love with (both from Hobby Lobby and both Christmas gifts from my wonderful in-laws). I’m throwing that whole ‘less is more’ saying out the window when it comes to our gallery wall – I mean isn’t the beauty of a gallery wall that you’re allowed to just keep adding this and adding that and you never have to be done? I think so. Ours still feels a bit bare in my opinion. Target may be seeing my face real soon.
L Claire Designs 