Initials in Pretty Frames: a DIY Project

What happens when you are stuck inside with nothing to do except read blogs all day?

You get the uncontrollable urge to create something! At least I did on Tuesday. I had been browsing through gorgeous blogs full of fun projects for 2 days straight, and I just had to make something of my own!

I went into town on Tuesday afternoon, simply because I had cabin fever and HAD TO GET OUT!!

When I left the house, I had no idea what I was going to make. But as I walked through the aisles of Family Dollar and Walmart, an idea (very simple though it was!) came to mind.

I bought the following:

6 picture frames, ranging in price from $1-$2 (I did not use them all)

Plus these:
White and Deep Ocean Blue acrylic paint and a set of paint brushes totalling about $11. But I will use these again!

And finally, this:
A book of neutral scrapbook paper, $5...which I will also use again

First of all, I picked my scrapbook paper patterns and cut them to the size of the frames
{Mistake #1: picking light paper for the big frame when I was planning on painting the frames white...}

Then, I sanded the frames and painted the big ones white, and the little ones blue. I still wasn't sure what I would do with the small ones yet, but had a tentative plan to fill them with little pictures of us or favorite scripture verses.

Next, I printed out our initials in a pretty font that I liked. And then used an Exacto knife to cut around the letters and make stencils

Finally, I used the stencils to paint a letter on each piece of scrapbook paper. They weren't perfect when I peeled the paper back, but I fixed the mistakes by hand.

Once I put everything together, I realized the paper I had chosen for the "W" was too light since I had painted the frame white. So I repainted the frame blue.
{Mistake #2}

Then I decided that it all just didn't look right together!

Home decorating is all about trial and error anyway, right?? So I didn't feel so bad. I decided to just hang the "L" and the "J" in our bedroom, and I threw the "W" picture in the tiny laundry room where I could enjoy it, but no one else will really be able to see it. Haha!

I hung the "L" and "J" pictures in the bedroom. It looked nice, but the stark white against my brown walls was a little abrupt. On a whim, I grabbed one of the blue frames to see if it would fit inside the white frames..
And voila! It fit perfectly! The colors did not translate perfectly in this cell phone pic, but I love the finished product :-) Like I said, home-decorating is all about trial and error :-)

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I'm going to let you all in on a little secret. At the beginning of the year, I wrote about how I was not going to share any of my New Year's Resolutions because I NEVER EVER keep them. Well, I wrote them all out (and there were a lot) in a Word document, and have been keeping track since January 1. And to tell you the truth, I think keeping them a secret was the trick, because I am making strides toward meeting all of them!

Anyway, I'm going to share one of them with you today. One of my goals is to complete 6 do-it-yourself projects this year. I figured I could do one every two months. And guess what! I've already completed two! I'm ahead of the game!

#1: Made (okay, altered) curtains for the attic room:

And #2: The project I shared today:


Only 4 to go, guys! Something tells me I'm going to exceed my goal here! :-)

Happy Thursday!