Hellobee

{It’s summer break here which means my whole world switches to “How do I keep Mini Michelangelo entertained… yet still be productive” challenges. Enter lots of craft projects and several home improvement items.}

Let me start by saying that I have a love-hate relationship with Instagram. I could probably write a whole post on it… but at the end of the day it’s like Chase Jarvis said, “The Best Camera is the One That’s With You.” And let’s face it, Instagram makes it really easy to take “eh” phone photos and make them “awww” photos… and then share them with everyone you know. When I discovered Printstagram’s “Mini Prints” last fall I fell in love immediately, ordered a couple of sets, and learned to love Instagram as a means to an end.

Now, I’ve always loved the idea of doing a gallery wall. I spend hours looking at inspiration online. But, at the end of the day, I find it crippling to commit to photographs and frames and layouts. Enter Prinstagram Mini Prints. Now, they aren’t the gorgeous 16×20 canvases from the photoshoots we do… or even the 8×10 school photos I love. But they are the simple moments in our lives captured forever. (And they really are gorgeous prints on nice, heavy stock which makes my designer’s heart sing.) And for now, that’s what I want to hang on my walls.

But I realized that once you order a slew of mini squares you need a way to display them. Last fall, when my first set came, I used a pretty pin board I had lying around. But, it didn’t fit them all, and I got tired of cycling them out. I’ve been eyeing a large canvas in the hallway for a few months now, but haven’t had time with our school-year schedules. Last week, Mini Michelangelo and I finally got around to gathering the supplies and tackling this project. Since we chose to “up-cycle” the canvas, the cost was minimal. (Under $20, not including the Printstagram prints.) If you need to purchase your canvas, we found that most craft stores have good sales on canvases every now and then, and almost all of them have 40% off a full-price item coupons available at all times. We’ve also seen them at many a yard sale… and since you are covering it anyway, it doesn’t matter what the painting is (as long as it’s flat and not “textured”). The best part about this project?! It was EASY. Here’s how we did it.

First, we gathered our supplies:

• Benjamin Moore Paint Sample in whatever color your heart desires… We chose “Aegean Teal”

• Foam Paintbrushes

• Twine (found in the jewelry aisle at the craft store)

• Mini Clothespins

• Printstagram Prints

• Hot Glue -OR- a Staple Gun.
(I actually changed my mind halfway through the project and used the staple gun instead.)

• Newspapers

I also gathered up a cute little helper:

Then we took the canvas off the wall:

We set up shop on the garage floor and got painting:

{It took three coats to cover the canvas… but we did them all within a day and a half.}

Once the canvas is dry, bring it inside and glue or staple your twine onto the back of the wood frame:

{I found it necessary to tie knots in the twine so it didn’t slide through the staples. I was able to do that after I stapled the twine in place.}

This was the hardest part of the project believe it or not. I had to play around with where to adhere the twine so I got the casual look I was going for. I ended up stapling the first twine line 2″ down from the top of the canvas on the left side, and 4″ down on the right side; the second twine line was adhered at 9″ down on the left, 6.5″ down on the right; and the third twine line was 13.5″ on the left and 18″ on the right. The key is to have several inches difference between the two points of each line. Also, you don’t seem to need too much “slack” on the lines since the weight of the clothespins and the prints stretch out the line a little and give it that nice “swoop” effect.

{The finished product.}

Then, you clip on your prints and play around with the spacing. You could go evenly spaced, or more random. I wanted that “I just threw them up here” look (that takes way longer, by the way) so played with clusters and sliding them around. I also left a few “empty” clips on the line to add some visual interest.

And, that’s it! I love how it looks and I’m so excited to have a big statement piece that I can easily swap out the photos as I need to update them. (I do have another little boy who will need some representation up there when he gets home!)