A Crafty Piece of Art

I first saw the Family Rules project on The Pleated Poppy months ago and immediately loved the idea. We have about a 20 inch wide space in our kitchen that needed "something." Since we have four framed John Golden prints (No Dinner No Dessert, Eat Your Vegetables, Always Say Please and Thank You, and Wash Your Hands), I thought something that played off on the rules idea would be perfect. I then proceeded to work at a snails pace for months. I cut letters, I printed, I used stickers, I changed my mind on each rule, I measured, remeasured...it was insane. I was finally ready to glue everything down when I saw this from Viv via Jen:Oh my. That is us. It was the perfect style, the perfect take. But, ugh... all that work for nothing.

Well, I decided to trash the original rules (above) and start over. I love the look of subway art and think they fit in perfectly.

(Yes, slightly off-kilter, but hanging the thing was almost as hard as making it).

I adapted the project slightly from Viv's art since I already has a canvas for the Family Rules project. Viv's tutorial, and Lil Blue Boo's are dead on, so I am just going to add a few things I learned: 1) Live by the Nester's advice "It Doesn't Have to Be Perfect To Be Beautiful," that will make it much easier. I stressed out way too much on centering, lettering, etc. I finally just gave in and let it be. 2) If you can find vinyl lettering/stickers in a close enough style, I would go that way. The contact paper works, but it is pretty frustrating to try to separate the layers on that many letters.

3) Simplify! I included WAY too many thoughts/rules and it resulted in my peeling letters for hours more than I probably needed to. 4) If you make your own letters (like I did), make them as large as possible. The larger letters were easier to paint and easier to peel. 5) Consider painting the entire canvas and then tracing the letters on top with a paint pen. I had a lot of touch-ups to do. Our Rules: Live Boldly; Dream Bigger; Love God, Love Others; Obey Your Parents; Forgiveness is Mandatory; Keep Your Promises; Use Manners; Be Yourself; Ask First; Know You Are Loved; Make a Difference; Try Your Best; Find Joy & Share It; Be Patient and Kind; and Imagine & Create.
Even though this wasn't my idea, I am posting it because I am incredibly proud that I finished the darn thing...it only took 5 months from idea to completion! Even though it took forever, I am happy with the way it turned out.

Updated* At your request, here is a wider picture so you can better see the area.

I'm updating to link to the CSI Project page for Wall Decor projects because I'm just so darn happy with how this turned out!

Updating to join Jen's Subway Art party