DIY Wall Decor: Canvas Cutouts

Today I decided that I don't have enough on my walls (even though there is no space for anything else) and decided to make these beautifully simple pieces. All you need are a couple canvas boards, stencil designs, a pencil, tape, an X-Acto knife and some free time.

Supplies needed

Patterned stencils. My printer was acting up so I had to trace them in pencil off of the computer screen. If you can print, I highly suggest that route!!

Cut the stencil to fit onto the canvas.

Tape the stencil to the canvas with the patterned side facing the front of the canvas.

Hold your canvas in front of a light source, I held it against a window. Trace the stencil onto the back of the canvas. (Note: make sure you do this on the back of the canvas so that you won't see any extra pencil lines when you are done)

After tracing the stencils onto the canvas backs.

Now take your X-Acto knife and cut along the lines! Be careful to make sure that your cuts all reach each other to prevent ripping or stretching the canvas. 

Finished product!

And there you have it! Beautiful wall decorations that look decently expensive all for about $10 if you already had the X-Acto knife. Have fun DIYing and feel free to send my pictures of your canvas cutouts!

Dorm Organization: DIY Container

I've been packing my life away to move into my dorm next week and just realized that I had no where to put all of the quarters I've saved for laundry trips. A simple minded person might just put them in rolls but I'm all about organization that is easy to look at, which doesn't include brown rolls of paper.

Here's what you'll need:
Small Tupperware
Washi Tape
Scissors

 Easy Enough?

 Take your washi tape and start wrapping it around the container. If yours is round like mine or gets wider as it goes up, you will have small bumps in the tape but don't worry too much about them.

 After you wrap the tape all the way around the container, cut it and then start a new line right below it. You could definitely just continue wrapping the tape without cutting every row, however, I found the best results when each row was separated because they lined up more nicely.

Smooth out as many bumps as you can and you're finished! You could customize yours by using two different tape designs, writing on it, or adding other embellishments!

DIY Cereal Bars

This morning I woke up hungry and found myself automatically scrolling on Pinterest to decide what to make. I saw a DIY cereal bar and decided to try it and make it my own.

Here's everything you'll need:

Your favorite cereal

Meltable chocolate

Marshmallows

A bowl for mixing

Sprinkles if you're fun

COOKING SPRAY (I forgot to spray the bowl and taking the mixture out was a nightmare.)

Take 3/4 cup of cereal and 1/2 cup of marshmallows and mix them in a bowl.

Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds and then mix again.

Add in melted chocolate and mix.

Now take the mixture out of the bowl and shape it into a bar.

I drizzled the extra chocolate over top and added some sprinkles just because.

And now you're all finished! Enjoy your homemade cereal bar and send me pictures of your own creations!

Xoxo,

Ashley

DIY Ombre Painting

I was inspired to do this project based on a picture I saw on Pinterest. I immediately fell in love with the painting and knew it would be really simple to make on my own.


So here's what you'll need:
A canvas

2 tubes of paint, white and whatever color you choose

A thick flat-topped paint brush


First things first, I covered up my workspace so that I wouldn't have to clean up too much paint later.

Then I went ahead and got started! For the first stripe, I used the blue paint color straight from the tube. I decided to start my stripes from the top edges of the canvas because I liked the way that looked more but if you want to see the actual paint strokes more, you could start painting about an inch below the top of the canvas. 

Before I went onto the next stripe, I added a little bit of white paint to my blue paint to make a lighter shade of blue.

So I just continued this process of adding white paint and painting the next stripe all the way across the canvas.

 

And here is the final result!

A simple painting that adds a pop of color to any room. Plus, it was under $10!

I still can't decide if I like it better on the wall or sitting on the dresser. Let me know where you think I should put it below!

Show me your ombre paintings by commenting or send it to me via twitter, instagram, etc. I'm really interested to see how you make it your own!

Xoxo

Ashley