Tutorial: Original Wall Art

This week I have been transforming my tiny guest bathroom, and I think I am finally finished. Using only things from around the house, I came up with a colorful, super cool piece that I want to share.

EDITED 8/20/09: Kimba is having a DIY Day link party; that’s a great place to show off my artwork!

So if you are stopping by from Kimba's place welcome…

Actually, the artwork reminds me of something that we had hanging in the living room, back in the 70’s. Only those were from a company called Hoda, (please say some of you remember that name) and they were huge gold keys on framed orange velvet. Wish I could find a picture of them now! So mine is the same, but with a 2009 flair.

This is the finished product:

I started with a natural wood frame, gave it a shot of espresso spray paint, and added a dry brush of gold over the brown paint…

With so many great fabric scraps, I picked one of my favorites to coordinate, still bringing in more rusty oranges and greens.

First I laid the frame on top of the fabric and lined up the pattern, then grabbed a good old Sharpie, and traced inside of the frame.

Then started cutting. Notice the skills of cutting right-handed while trying to take a picture with the left hand…Yeah, I’ve got skills.

I Retrieved my trusty can of spray adhesive from my stash. By the way, spray adhesive is a great thing to keep on hand. I sprayed the original piece of cardboard backing that came with the frame with the glue and simply stretched the fabric over the cardboard pressing until totally smooth. You must work fast and have your fabric ready to glue!

Turn the cardboard, with fabric attached, over and insert into frame closing all tabs to hold it in tight. DO NOT USE THE GLASS for this particular project.

It was very pretty all by itself! I love framed fabric…but wait, now for the key… I placed the key in the middle of the frame and used a Sharpie once again to make marks where the nails should go through the key to hold it up. Remember this metal piece is very heavy so I used longer nails for support. You could use any metal artwork or architectural pieces too!

I hung the frame first with a smaller nail, it was not so heavy… used a level to be sure the frame is level because the nails holding the key are going straight through the fabric and into the wall!

After leveling, I nailed my key holders right through to the wall.

I have a feeling my husband is cringing at the thought of all the nails that went into this tiny bathroom… Love you Honey! Bathroom looks great!

Don’t forget to dab some paint on the nail heads to hide them.

And there you have it. My bathroom is finally complete, whew!

I kept the artwork quite low, even though the bathroom has a nine-foot ceiling. Keeps it cozy…these are actually hung at about chin level for me which is under 5 feet. I’m pretty short.

If only I had 10 more yards of this incredible fabric I could have dining room drapes…it’s dreamy.

If you have any questions just shoot me an email. Now on to the next project… whatever will it be?????

~Misti