Monday, March 15, 2010

Personal Family Squares


I made these a while ago and have gotten quite a few compliments on them so I thought I'd share it with all of you. I really love the way it came out and it was super easy -- I think I made all three of our squares in one evening. Granted, I stayed up til midnight, but still, it was one night.

All you need is:
Canvas (I used 8x8s)
Paint
Mod-podge
Cardstock
Cricut (or scissors and some patience)

First you've got to brainstorm! Think up some words for each member of your family -- adjectives, phrases, things they love, things the like to do, nicknames, etc. I had the hardest time thinking up words for myself so had to ask Mr. Cakes and other friends and family for ideas.

I really wanted the letters to pop so I painted the canvas black -- obviously you can use whatever colors you want to go with your decor. To figure out spacing and how big to make the letters, I cut out a piece of paper the same size as my canvas and just wrote the words out in pencil so I could erase and play around with it and see around how big I wanted which words. (PS, the big black paper at the top of the canvas is my "crafty" way of protecting my son's and husband's privacy. I couldn't figure out how to add a black bar to a photo.)

I then used my Cricut to cut out the different words. If you don't have a Cricut, then you need to go out and buy one. Just kidding (kind of) -- you'll have to use your computer to find fonts and print the words out, trace them onto cardstock and then cut them out. Or make friends with someone with a Cricut. Side note: I LOVE MY CRICUT. It was my push present/Christmas gift (our son was born in December) and it took me a while to start using it but now that I have, it's the most fabulous thing ever. It makes so many projects so much easier.

Once I had all my words cut out, I laid them out on the painted canvas to make sure that my spacing was right and that I liked the layout and that words didn't blend together or anything. I really tried to put different fonts next to each other so that there was a clear distinction between words and also tried to leave a pretty clear space between words for the same reason. When I had the words laid out just right I used my little paintbrush and Mod-Podge to glue the letters to the canvas and then gave the whole thing a couple good coats of Mod-Podge to seal it all in. Let it dry, hang it up, and you've got great, personal decor!

5 comments:

  1. this is an awesome idea! I bookmarked it. thanks for the inspiration, now I just need some more time in the day!

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  2. Thanks! Totally know what you mean. Once you get started though, it is a breeze. It is the getting started part. Good luck and let us know if you have any questions.

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  3. This is great! I know just the place for these. I made something similar http://raynas-place.blogspot.com/2010/02/keeping-busy.html

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  4. Fabulous idea...thanks for sharing.

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  5. Just so you know I featured this project on my craft blog!

    http://craftyhappylilme.blogspot.com/2010/05/personalized-family-canvas-2010.html

    Thanks for the awesome fun idea!
    Jana

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