DIY Wall Art & Some Jewelry

Today I thought I'd show off a few simple paintings I've done recently. They were VERY easy, so here we go....

This was the first painting I did. I got the idea from enJOY it. It's just fingerpainting!

All you will need is your canvas of choice (I used this 12 x 12 canvas from Michael's), acrylic paints in your color choices (I chose orange as a base and then used 5 other colors for the dots), and your hands!

Start off by painting your canvas with your base color. I chose orange, because I wanted something bright!

Once the base color is dry, start dipping your finger into each color, adding small swipes of color down the canvas. Keep alternating colors consistently, so it's even all over. Do this until you fill up the entire canvas. And that's it! 

Once the paint is all dry (shouldn't take long with acrylics...), you can seal it however you like and hang it up on the wall! It's a great piece for brightening up a room, and fun for kids to help with as well! (Although, make sure you are using non-toxic paint if kids are helping!)

The second painting I did was completely my own creation. I got the idea when I was cutting out the tags on my scrapbook paper for wrapping Christmas gifts, and i ended up with tons of little triangles. I like using my scraps if I can, so I kept the little triangles and turned it into this! 

So, all you need for this one is.....

a variety of colored paper or  scrapbook paper

scissors

mod podge

glue (or you can also use the mod podge to adhere the triangles)

a foam brush

paint

and a canvas. 

I started out by mixing some paint to get that dark reddish brown color for the base.

After I painted on the reddish brown, I let it dry and then painted on my tree with white.

I let the canvas dry overnight (or several nights..I'm a procrastinator.) and finally I got around to doing the tedious work of placing and gluing these tiny little triangles all over the canvas, so my tree would have leaves! 

After my triangles were in place and glued down, I spread several coats of Mod Podge over the canvas to seal it all in. That's it! 

This last painting was pretty much an accident. I was attempting to do one of those big script paintings with black cursive lettering on a purple canvas, and I wanted it to be the lyrics to mine & Shane's song, "Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes. (To hear the song, scroll past the tutorial.)  It didn't quite work out, but what I came up with instead is starting to grow on me. (Although I do need to touch up the lettering so it doesn't look quite so thrown together.)

What you'll need is....

acrylic paint, brushes, and a canvas! 

I wrote a chunk of my favorite lyrics and covered the entire canvas in them. Make sure when you're doing the initial lettering you go over it 2 or 3 times at least so that when you paint over it later it will show through the paint. 

closeup of the initial lettering after being covered.
I did two coats on the lettering.

Once the lettering is dry, go over it with the silver paint (or whatever color you decide). Let that dry, then do your black lettering over that. Seal it up and hang it on the wall, you're done! 

 Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home  

Last night, I went through all of the jewelry I've made in the last year or so, decided on what I wanted to keep and sell, and what I wanted to take apart for beads/chain/pendants, etc. Then I started playing with some beading wire I received for Christmas, and it all went downhill from there. I ended up making jewelry until midnight!

Here are the new pieces I made last night: 

bracelet
orange/green round beads & purple bar beads on gold chain.

bracelet
orange/green round beads & purple bar beads on gold chain.

bracelet
faux pearls & blue beads on white chain

necklace
wooden zebra pendant with dark gold chain and yellow beads

necklace
orange and green beads

my first attempt at a wirework necklace.
here's a shot of the middle of the necklace that hangs, my twisted wire

where the wire attaches to the chain

necklace
wire and silver chain.

necklace
orange round beads and blue beads on silver chain

necklace
white & off-white rectangular beads on silver chain

necklace
green/blue stone pendant on white chain

necklace
wooden heart pendant on gold chain

Hope you like what you see! 

That's all for now, get busy crafters!