Hi y'all! Holly here from Love The Tompkins, I'm just popping over today to tell you all about a little state art project I whipped up and hoping you'll join along with me and represent the state that has your heart!
Being a military family means lots of things, and just one of those things is re-location! Re-location has never scared me- I grew up in a military family and I guess I'm a little adventurous when it comes to new places and things but I often miss the state that I call home- Virginia. I did most of my growing up years there, met my husband and got married there, that is where we had our first apartment and spent our first six months of being married. One day we will go back but we often find ourselves talking about our sweet little apartment and how cozy and awesome it was. Somehow all that reminiscing sparked the idea of making a little wooden tribute to the state that started it all for us. This was such a great nap-time project while my kids were snoozing away and could easily be done with scrap wood.
Here is what you will need...
Supplies
Plywood of any size to be the face of the art- My piece was roughly 6x6''
1x2 trim- To frame the size of my plywood I required 2, 6.5'' pieces and 2, 6 7/8'' pieces
Wood Stain
Paper towels
White Paint
Wood Glue
Silhouette & Vinyl - OR contact paper, printer & scissors
First you will want to cut out the plywood face- like I mentioned in the supply list mine was 6"x6" however the beauty of this project is that it can be totally customizable to what you desire.
Next you will want to cut out your desired state with a silhouette machine or use a computer printer to print an image of the state onto contact paper and cut out the stencil using a pair of scissors or an Exacto knife. Place the vinyl over the plywood positioning the stencil directly in the center of the plywood and press down firmly to adhere the stencil to the wood.
Using a paper towel dab wood stain over the stencil until you reach the desired shade and uniformity. There will be some bleeding from the stain in the wood grain but it can be "cleaned up" in the next step.
Next You can white wash the rest of the plywood using watered down acrylic paint and a paper towel. I also used a tiny paint brush to apply paint to areas around the edges of the state to clean up any bleeding from the wood stain.
Next I glued the trim pieces around the edges of the plywood to create a frame.
Then using a paintbrush I stained the trim frame.
I love the way my little state art project turned out, it's just a cute little addition to our tv room console. Do you have a thing for your home state? Will you be creating a little state love art of your own? Let me know!
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Shawnna
Very creative!