Monday, February 13, 2012

DIY Project: Wall Art

I have been staring at a large empty wall space in our living room for over 6 months.  Everything I found in the store that I thought might work for the space was always waaaay too expensive ($75-$200).  I finally decided to search the web for DIY Wall Art and became inspired.  What was created is what you see below.  Tada! 



All it took was a trip to Michaels where I picked up 4 blank canvases, a cheap bottle of black acrylic paint, and paint brushes.  This was followed by a trip to Lowes for some painters tape.  I chose to use 4 canvases because they were on sale for buy one two pack, get another free.  How could I pass up free stuff?  Any color paint would've worked for this project or I could've used more than one color.  Black and white just happened to fit in with the color scheme of my living room.  The canvas could even be painted prior to putting the tape on it to make the lines a different color.  Just make sure the under layer is completely dry before placing the tape.  Here are the steps it took to complete this mini DIY project

Materials: Canvases, Paint, Paint Brush, Painters Tape
Time: 2-3 hours (45 minutes active time, 2 hours drying)
  1. Lay the canvases touching side by side on a flat surface in the desired formation.  Any number of canvases will work...1, 3, 4, etc.  
  2. Place the painters tape in long strips across the canvas until a pattern that you like is created.
  3. If using more than one canvas, cut the tape along the gap between the canvases.
  4. Optional step: take extra tape and wrap it around the edges if you want the line/pattern to continue on the sides of the canvas.  Skip this step if it doesn't matter and just paint the side.
  5. Take a credit card or something similar and run it along the edges of all the tape.  This is an important step because it will help keep the paint from bleeding under the tape edge.
  6. Once all tape edges are secure, paint away! 
  7. Allow the paint to completely dry.  Once paint is dry, peel off all the painters tape and your done!  All that's left is to hang everything up.
All in all, it does pay to do something yourself.  Cost of purchasing wall art: $75-$200.  Cost of DIY: $20.  No comparison!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Hello - an introduction...

Hello!  I am starting this blog for the mere purpose of self amusement.  If anyone happens to stumble upon this blog and becomes interested in my ramblings/senseless opinions, all the better!  I have been considering a blog off and on for the past year and have finally decided it is time to start.  There are so many thoughts running through my head at any given moment that it almost exhausts me to keep up with them, so I thought blogging may help sort through the chaos.  Also, I need a hobby besides sitting on my couch, eating cheese, and watching reality TV.  There is no format to this blog nor is there one particular subject that I plan discussing.  I am by no means a "guru" on any subject.  There was a time I wished desperately to be the Queen of ____ (fill in the blank...ANYTHING), but had to always settle as the Jack of All Trades.  As I've gotten older, I've embraced being a Jack and rather enjoy it.  My interests vary from cooking, eating, reading, beauty/makeup, cats, and penguins.  Penguins are adorable.  In fact, here is a particularly adorable penguin picture:


Note the purposeful looking strut...

What is a Twinkie?  Per Wikipedia, a Twinkie is "an American snack cake made and distributed by Hostess Brands. They are marketed as a 'Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling'."  I personally find Twinkies to be disgusting; however, I may be persuaded to try a deep fried Twinkie.  Anything fried has to be delicious, right?

Twinkaliciousness

This is not to be confused with the term "Twink", which is "a gay slang term describing a young or young-looking gay man (18-23yrs) with a slender, ectomorph build, little or no body hair, and no facial hair." (Wikipedia strikes again!)  This term can be deemed offensive.

Bruno

The Twinkie I speak of is not edible nor is it a young male leading an alternative lifestyle.  I have been a Twinkie since before I knew Twinkies existed.  A friend in high school gave me the nickname to which I fondly cling.  On the outside, I appear Asian...you know, black hair, skin with yellow undertones, almond shaped eyes.  On the inside, I am Scotch/Irish and Italian.  So again, what is a Twinkie?  A Twinkie is "an Asian person who is either adopted or living in a white community" (urbandictionary.com).  Yep, yellow on the outside, white on the inside (aka an Asian that acts white).  That's me!