Bloody Art

I am so excited about my recent DIY project at our house.  The girls have reached an age where they are begging me to do their own art and I have no where to display it.  We are not your hoity toity refrigerator people who have a clutter free facade.  No that surface is covered with all kinds of projects from art school, mom's group. etc... But I wanted a place where I could really show off the ones I really like.  At the same time, I have been contemplating what I wanted to hang on the bare wall in my dining area.  Nothing against it, but I am not fond of store bought art on the walls in my house.  I would rather litter my walls with personal family photos and my kids glorious use of color.  So, I woke up one sleep deprived morning with the epiphany of combining the two.  How smarts I am :)

I had a few projects in mind that I had pinned on Pinterest but none of them individually really excited me.  Therefore, true to Angel-a nature, I took the best of all of them and attempted to combine them all to suit my personal taste.  And I have to say, I am pretty thrilled at how they turned out.  Plus, the hubby really liked them too (which isn't always easy to do!).  I wanted a magnetic, framed board that could really show case their work without looking cheap and cheesy.  I am on a tight budget, so I could never have possibly afforded to buy three large ornate frames that I envisioned for the space.  I kept my eye out and scored in the Michael's clearance section.  I found three large backless frames (wrong color) for only $5 each!!!  They were ugly but nothing a can of semi-gloss black spray paint couldn't fix. I sprayed them black and headed to Lowe's for some sheet metal for the magnetic board.  Only cost me $10!  I needed to cut them to size.  The guy warned me that sheet metal is really sharp when cut.  "I know, I know..." I said rolling my eyes.  I'm not careless.  And that is where the blood comes in.  That guy wasn't kidding.  I got out Jason's tin sheers and started cutting.  I by-passed the gloves because they made for clumsy handling but that was just plain dumb.  That sucker sliced all the way practically to the bone effortlessly.  Almost like a paper cut.  Barely felt it when I did it but that didn't last for long!  Yowzers!   Needless to say, Jason finished cutting them while I nursed my wound with a butterfly band-aide. 

Once cut and with gloves on... I painted the metal my kitchen color to coordinate the two rooms.  I then inserted them into the frame and staple gunned them in place.  I then purchased three white wooden craft letters from Michael's ($6 total)  and glued a magnet to the back and voila!  perfect way to display the girls art!  The whole project cost me $31!  That's cheaper than one regularly priced frame!  I absolutely LOVE how they turned out and they are quickly becoming my favorite things in the house.

As far as the artwork they created here, all I had them do was paint two half sheets (one red, one pink) and make lines on a third with a green marker.  They took a wadded paper towel and used it to paint on the blue for the background.  Once dried I cut the red and pink pages into hearts and the marker page into strips for the "stems".  I then helped the girls glue them on.  They love using the glue stick.

I love the proud little faces that excitedly display their masterpieces for everyone to see at our house!