Tag Archives: wall hangings

Pin Up Girl Friday: Gigantic Art

Remember when we ordered “school pictures” before digital cameras? It was expensive to develop 8 x 10′s, so you usually got one picture in that size and a special frame was chosen to show it off. It seemed huge compared to wallet photos and 3 x 5 vacation snapshots. So I grew up thinking an 11 x 14 frame was really big.

After college I visited New York City and the Met and MoMA. I had never seen art so big. My views and horizons were expanded. I flew home with two art posters crammed in a suitcase, a Kandinsky and another I forget who painted it, but it was two old guys on a city bench at night. I chose it because the light-filled windows behind the men reminded me of the expensive NYC apartments where I caught glimpses of big art on the walls. I hoped to have big art like that one day. Bold pieces with uncontainable personalities, filling the rooms and nearly bursting through the windows.

Now I seek big art. There are a few walls that beg for something. But it’s not easy to think so big. My eyes have been “in training” on Pinterest …

From Chicago Home+Garden:

From An Afternoon With (in the Manhattan apartment of Jason, a CNN correspondent):

This Washington DC Georgtown home, found at Splendid Sass and from the April 2011 issue of Veranda, showcases many pieces of large art created by the homeowner:

Very pleasing arrangement. By photographer Emily Jenkins Followill:

From Desire to Inspire:

Found at Mark D Sikes, from Town & Country:

The Decorologist rearranged and redesigned a home to better highlight art. This was once a dining room, now an office — what vision to see what’s possible:

Manuscrit Rug” hung as art, shown at DWR blog:

From 1stdibs photo archive, by Tria Giovan Photography:

Via Carrier and Company (this image is discussed at Canadian House & Home in a good article about playing with scale:

In keeping with my 2012 resolution to “live bigger and bolder,” any new art added to our house will be big — no more 11×14 here! I’ll have an eye out for big art in India for our Chennai apartment too — lots of empty wall space there.

As of right now, there are about 250 more images of rooms with big art in my Pinterest Board, Decor-Big Art. Check them out!

Sincerely,

(who is thinking Pinterest is struggling with its rapid growth, getting very slow compared to a year ago)

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Wall Art With Scrapbook Papers

Have you seen wall art in sets of nine squares, hanging on the wall like a tic-tac-toe board? I have, but wanted my own custom colors and design. I have a stack of scrapbook papers, pretty papers doing nothing but hiding in a pile. What a great source of colors and patterns!

It’s as simple as this:

Here’s what I did and how you can do this too:

  • Choose nine coordinating but contrasting scrapbook papers. They’re usually 12″ x 12″. Use thicker scrapbook paper. Thin scrapbook paper tends to wrinkle much easier
  • Get nine 12″ x 12″ panels. I got wood panels from Dick Blick.
  • I painted the edges of the wood panels black with acrylic paint. But you can leave the edges plain, stain the wood, or paint any color you want.
  • Apply a layer of Mod Podge to the panels, then apply the scrapbook papers to the panels. I did one panel at a time.
  • Use a brayer, ruler or yardstick to smooth the paper and push out air bubbles.
  • You can leave the papers undecorated or brush a layer of Mod Podge over them. I accidentally smeared Mod Podge on some papers, so I just brushed a layer of matte Mod Podge over all of the papers and this hid the smears.
  • Here are instructions from Mod Podge to get great decoupage results.

There was a huge blank wall in my office. The wall was filled with a large black & white photocopy of a state map and legislative districts, but the laws I was lobbying for passed (yay!), the boring (but very useful) map came down, and up went some color and pattern:

You could embellish the papers even more. Paint stencils on the papers. Layer more papers. Distress the edges. Work in multi-media. Metal strips with rivets?

Beyond the Dick Blick wood panels used here, most craft stores sell less pricey 12″ x 12″ square panels, and panels of other sizes too. You could use a 36″ x 12″ panel and put three scrapbook papers on it. If you want longer panels, try using ready-made inexpensive shelves from stores like Home Depot, Menards or Lowes.

I really hope you try this! It’s a fast and affordable project that can cover a lot of wall space.

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If you like this, you might like my other DIYs shared here.

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You might also like:
scrapbook paper holder
DIY: Magazine Holder Decorated with Scrapbook Paper
scrapbook paper wall art
Travel Memento: Old Key Framed with Scrapbook Paper Scraps
scrapbook paper and painted stencil
DIY: Scrapbook Paper + Bronze Stencil = Cool Wall Art

See this project and more DIY ideas at:

CraftOManiac | DIY Showoff | I Heart Nap Time | Just A Girl Show and Share Day | Making the World Cuter | Passionately Artistic | Southern Lovely | Thrifty 101 | Weekend Warrior

DIY Project: Silk Scarf Mounted on Canvas

The post about framed scarves — which featured framed Hermes scarves and less pricey but also beautiful scarves — is one of the most popular posts on this site.

The images found while assembling that post inspired me to frame a silk Talbot’s scarf that was originally purchased to hang on our living room wall. The scarf’s theme — exotic travel — adds to our living room things which are from India, Burma, Laos, Thailand, China and Italy. And High Point, North Carolina.  :)

After wearing the scarf for a few years, it was time for it to claim the space where it was meant to be. Here’s how I framed the scarf …

Materials:

  • silk scarf 36″ x 36″
  • 36″ x 36″ x 1″ canvas
  • Matte antique gold color spray paint
  • Silk pins from sewing notions
  • Nail already in wall from a previous hanging

Here’s the scarf as it’s looked for a few years:

Here’s how it will look on the canvas (next step, ironing!):

Here’s one of my ever-present arts n’ crafts assistants demonstrating how big the canvas is:

Next, I sprayed gold paint only where canvas will be visible, plus the edges. It’s not necessary to paint the entire canvas so the paint can be used for another project. I had to apply several layers of spray paint for even coverage:

Then another easy step. After the paint dried, I pinned the scarf to the canvas along the edges:

It was as easy as that.

One small snafu. I thought the scarf was smaller than the 36″ x 36″ canvas, but when the creases were ironed out, the scarf became the exact same size as the canvas. You could choose a bigger canvas so there’s a “frame” of gold around the scarf. But this way you can still see the gold canvas edges.

The canvas is not the best quality. It’s slightly warped and it doesn’t have a smooth even surface, but you can’t see this once the scarf is pinned to the canvas. If you used a finer linen canvas, you could sew the scarf edges onto the canvas instead of pinning them. I suppose rather than a “framed scarf,” this is more of a “mounted scarf.” I chose this option because I like the casual appearance of unframed canvas.

Some more images. This is a scrapbook I made that is an imaginery diary that Amelia Earhart would have kept if she really did land on a Pacific island and survive there for awhile:

Below is a prayer bowl from Sikkim, brass weights from an antique shop in Tuscany (San Gimignano or Volterra? I forget now) and travel journals from a place much closer — the Barnes & Noble within walking distance of our house! I keep a written journal of memories of every trip we take:

I like all the colors and patterns, but you need to be closer to this vignette to appreciate them:

I’ve stored turquoise necklaces in the bowl:

My cats are really well-behaved. With stuff on this table, they don’t jump on it at all. There’s another table just like this one in front of a big window that I keep clear of things to give them lots of room to sit in the window, a favorite spot of theirs. This corner with this scarf is now one of my favorite spots in the house.

See this project and more DIY ideas at:

CraftOManiac | DIY Showoff | I {Heart} Nap TimeJust A Girl Show and Share Day | Making the World Cuter | Market Yourself Monday | Passionately Artistic | Weekend Warrior

Metal Wall Hanging

I am drawn to this for some reason. Why? The colors? The orderliness? I do LOVE to line straight lines up. To put things in a row, equally spaced apart, in their place. And that is here:

In a place otherwise filled with paisleys, flowers and swirls, perhaps you need this? If you do, it’s available at Sears’ Canadian website.

It reminds me of this photo, which I found in a now-forgotten place during online travels: