I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m not much of a DIYer. But that doesn’t stop me from busting out the glue sticks every so often and trying to make some crafting magic happen. Sometimes I see things on Pinterest or on other blogs and I get so inspired to add a similar handcrafted touch to my own home. I want to be crafty. I want my scissors to be like a magic wand upon yards of fabric. But I don’t have all the right tools, I don’t have neat handwriting and I’m terrible at drawing straight lines (even with a ruler). Usually half way through a seemingly easy project, I realize it’s going to require skills that I can’t muster. Then I get frustrated, like throw down the scissors and stomp my feet kind of frustrated.
So was the scene last weekend when I decided to tackle my latest DIY home décor project. I’ve been wanting wallpaper in my home for a long time. I love it. Keith hates it. And when I saw this pretty framed wallpaper on Pinterest I was certain it would be a great way to please us both. I found some extra wallpaper from my parent’s house and my dad gave me four old wood frames that were lying around in the basement. My foolproof plan was to mount the wallpaper on foam board, pop it into the frames and then hang them over our bed. Oh it sounded so painless.
I learned a valuable crafting lesson. Just because a project’s steps are few, does not mean they are easy.
Crafting on the guest bed? Perhaps a more serious workspace would help.
Cutting the foam board to the right size took some work, but I wiped my brow and trudged through it. I breezed through the measuring, cutting and adhering (I used spray adhesive) of the wallpaper. It was getting that foam-mounted wallpaper into the frame that was the hard part. I had to trim and trim and coax and beg that foam board into the frame. It’s not that I measured them wrong—all the foam board fit into the frames pre-wallpaper mounting. Ok. Fine. I probably did something wrong between the set up and step one. So I stomped my feet, pouted and called Keith in to help. It was an ugly scene.
In the end, I turned out two near perfect, framed pieces of wallpaper that I love. We hung them over our bed along with the two empty frames that I intended to wallpaper, too, but I am now just pretending the look was intentional.
I love the results of my little room makeover. The lines created by the frames look cohesive with the pattern on our beddings, which I’m so glad about because I was just starting to grow tired of it. And I love that we have some original art (yes, art) in our home now.
Tell me, are you gifted in the craft department? What tips can you offer to an amateur crafter like me? Please share because I'd like to continue this habit but could do without the stress!
