DIY Art Decoration

Ok so as promised I have my first DIY project! Basically, this project is supposed to be used as an art piece for my livingroom wall. I saw this on a website and thought I would give it a try. Here is what the final project is supposed to look like according to the website I found it on.

In the photograph above the individual took a bunch of fabric squares and pasted them on a canvas. I do not have a bunch of fabric pieces laying around my house and my boyfriend did not allow me to just start cutting up pieces of clothing, blankets, etc. so I was left to find another method. What I do have lying around the house is a bunch of scrapbook paper pieces. If you do not have scrapbook pieces laying around then you can go out and buy some for pretty cheap. Actually Wal-Mart is even carrying them now and you can get a little booklet of a bunch of different designs for $5. That one booklet should be enough for you to do this entire project as long as you look all the different pages in it. Ok so here is a list of the stuff I used:

1. Pieces of Scrapbook paper (or you can use fabric if you have it)

2. Canvas (can purchase at any art store, hobby lobby, etc. or if you want you could do this on a piece of wood or glass if you have that).

3. Mod Podge (can purchase at Hobby Lobby or any craft store, it comes in a bottle and you will not use anywhere close to all of it, but this is a VERY handy tool to have at all times if you are planning on doing some DIY project)

4. Paint Brush (whatever size you prefer, but because the Mod Podge is a glue it will be hard to clean your brush completely, so I have one brush that I designate as my Mod Podge brush only. Do NOT use a sponge brush, they don't work for Mod Podge!!)

After I had collected all my tools the first thing I did was cut up the pieces of scrapbook paper in different size shapes. I stuck with making them all with straight edges rather than rounded edges because I wasn't sure how they would all piece together if they were rounded.

After I cut out the pieces I then started putting them on the canvas one at a time. I would recommend starting in one corner and working down and across. I would NOT put one pieces on the left side and one on the right just randomly because it is VERY hard to try and find pieces to fit like that.

Here is a step-by-step process of what I did....

1. Picked out a piece of the scraps and placed it in the top left corner of the canvas

2. Brushed Mod Podge over that piece to secure it to the canvas

3. Picked out another scrap of paper that I thought would look well next to the first piece. What I considered in this was color, shape, and whether I had a similar piece anywhere near it.

4. Go back and start the process over again until the canvas is covered.

So here is MY final project....

My final thoughts: The cost of this project where minimal (most expensive is the canvas which is about $10.00). The total cost was probably around $15 maximum. It did take about 3 hours to complete, but I just worked on it while I was watching tv. I will say that it does look obviously like a DIY art piece. Now for some this is a great thing, but for others like myself you want your DIY projects to look like someone else did it. I would definitely try it again, but next time stick it a limited amount of colors (I'm really thinking a black and white one with just different patterns of black and white would look super cool). This is definitely a doable DIY project, but don't expect the outcome to be something you will see one day in an Art Museum and I will say this is definitely one where I think you will get better with practice.

Overall DIY Grade: C+

Good Luck and please feel free to post your finished project! Happy Do It Yourselfing!