$5 Wall Art!

I've been trying to decide what I want to put on the wall above my student desk.  Last week I was watching HGTV and could not stop looking at a painting in the room.  It was just like the top painting, except more orange.  I wanted it.. yesterday.

So I looked at my options from Lowes and found a board that was 24"x48".  It was only $5, so I had them cut it in half and took it home!

First I sanded the edges with my Dremel to smooth them down.

I used my free Valspar paint samples to paint the board.

It was gorgeous outside so I worked on the back porch!

First I painted all the edges, then worked my way in.

I put on two coats of blue, and three coats of yellow.  While that was drying I cut out my stencils.

I found images I liked on Google, then printed them on cardstock.  I used my exacto knife to cut them out.

***Do not cut on your carpet!! It WILL cut through it!  (Not that I've done this...)***

Here they are ready to be used.  I chose a bird and a frog!

For the white I used the leftover paint from my desk bookcase and my  student desk.  I used my foam brush and kind of smushed the white paint on.  Some of it leaked under, but I wasn't going for perfection.

After I impatiently calmly waited for the paint to dry, I ran over the entire piece with my Dremel again.  I made sure to really thin out the white because I didn't want it too brilliant.  I wanted more of an old, worn kind of white.  I probably could have even thinned it out more.

I was going to nail hanging brackets on the back, but the nail was too long.  Because the board is so light weight, I just hot glued the brackets.  Hopefully they won't fall and slam into my face one day.

And here they are in my office!

The entire process took about four hours, but that includes just sitting on the couch waiting for the paint to dry.

So total cost, $2.50 per picture!  I love it!

Cheers!

Linking Here!