Recently, my BFF Shailyn and I decided to throw a baby shower for a friend of hers. The mommy to be, loves everything bee related, so we are going for a Bee theme. I am trying to do as much as I can by hand, and not purchase too many things that I won't be using. So here is my first attempt at "bee-ing" creative. I was of course planning on this not to turn out well, like every other project- so took all of the in progress photos with my cell phone. Whoops. So here goes:
How to make hanging letters for your baby's room:
Materials list:
Canvases (as many as letters)
Acrylic paint (in desired colors)
Paint brush for acrylic paint- larger brush lets you work faster
Mod Podge (amazing stuff- I used the matte version)
Sponge brush to brush it on
Computer & printer to print your design.
Scissors to cut it out
Ribbon to hand the canvases
2 thumb tacks per letter to affix the ribbon to the back of the canvases...
Any good craft store will have tiny canvases. I purchased these years ago, and they have been sitting in my "crafty area" ever since. They are 4x4 inches. Make sure you buy as many as you have letters. (Zach was only 4 letters, and I had 4 little canvases- score!).
Next, spell out the name using a word processing program. Make sure you make your letters big enough to fill the space on your canvas. I tried the "over used" Curlz font here with a bit of clipart.
Next, cut your letters out. I thought by cutting close to my letters, I would have a better product- not so. The lines showed up, so you may want to just cut a square out? After you have cut out the squares, place them on the canvases to make sure you go the size correct.
When the letters look about the right size- it's time for MOD PODGE- this stuff is amazeballs!
I have no idea how many coats to do- maybe more would have been better? Who knows. This is what it looked like when it dried:
When you think it's pretty dry, then you paint over the ENTIRE canvas (sides too) with your acrylic paint color of choice. In this case, it was yellow.
Ah, posting a blurry photo of the "Z" -again I am 100% promising to use a real camera to document my next project. After you have painted all of the canvases, you can still see some of the lettering underneath the paint. Paint over it with the next color of your choice, in this case it was black. Things are looking very black & yellow/ bee-like at this point!
I found that I was almost going blind trying to see the lettering underneath the yellow paint, and my hand was starting to shake while trying not to color outside the lines. So I switched to a black sharpie- worked GREAT! Unlike a paintbrush, I had total control of the pen. Excellent!
I drew little dots through the letters to make it look like the bee was buzzing through them. Cute! Then I waited for the whole thing to dry over night. Zzzzzzzz.....
In the morning, I tied ribbon bows, and thumb tacked them to the back of the canvases. Et voila! First DIY bee project finished!
I hope baby Zach will like his letters!
