DIY Wall Art for the Nesting Insomniac

Let's get real: Pinterest and crafting blogs have become my best frienemies since this insane pregnancy nesting instinct kicked in a couple months ago. All I want to do is sew and crochet and paint things and clean and organize and then RE-organize and Google weird projects and blah blah (you get the picture). 

*truth: I've always been a crafting junkie, so maybe I'm just using pregnancy as an excuse to finally pursue whatever idea pops into my head regardless of what time of day (or night) it is? anyways*

My sister Nikki has a cute frame in her kitchen and the note inside it reads: "Happiness is something you decide beforehand". I decided that the sad, blank space on our white wall needed some cheering up *so* I set out to copy the quote and put it in a large, oddly shaped frame I picked up from DI forever ago.

SIDE NOTE: THE DI HERE IS AMAZING. 

SMALLER SIDE NOTE: That's about the only amazing thing about Rexburg. Sad but true. 

I went to the craft store and picked up some thick posterboard, came home, Googled "DIY Wall Art" (I was hoping to find a cute idea for painting the background of the board before writing the words in) and I came across THIS BEAUTY:

Oooohhh aaaahhhh sooo cuuuutteee!

found here by Cozamia

With a little more looking, I found a DIY tutorial! WooHoo!!

found here <--click followed="followed" for="for" i="i" link="link" modified="modified" p="p" the="the" this="this" tutorial="tutorial">

It was preeeeeetty darn late and I had work in the morning, so I did the responsible thing and started the project RIGHT THEN! (haha). Mine is not as cute, nor perfect, but it is perfect for our wall! And, bless America, I'm not super crazy about my wall art being 100% perfect - imperfections = character, right..?? - so I took some short cuts, ran out of painter's tape halfway through, and used what I had (masking tape!) to finish it up.

Picture of my tools:

don't mind the stacks of paper, pineapple, etc...so random

NOT PICTURED: Painter's tape. I ran out, remember? Word to the wise: don't run out. It makes everything a LOT harder. I only had a little bit left, though, and it was after midnight, so...couldn't run out and get more before I started (and I obviously wasn't going to wait to get started!...) 

Exact-o knife, random paint colors that I like (acrylic, latex, whatevs), a couple different sized brushes, and a neutral colored paint for the final layer. I used Folk Art acrylic paint in Champagne so my last coat is a little metallic and I like it lots! 

To understand how I went from the "tools" picture to the final project, click the tutorial link above! 

If I were to do this project over again, I'd definitely do the herringbone pattern instead of a modified chevron pattern. (I would also take lots of pictures so I could do a tutorial of my own, and download a photo editing program so my blog pictures don't look so amazingly ghetto.)

EASY. CUTE. You KNOW you have an empty wall that needs some random DIY painting on it! Just do it.