Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Ace Hardware. This DIY canvas wall art project is a simple, cheap way to add original artwork to your home. Caricatures of the kids and thumbprint balloons keep it sweet.
When my sister and I aren’t blogging, we spend a lot of time working on fun, family-oriented DIY projects. Denine and her husband live in a 1920’s Tudor style home and are always researching ways to make sure that their home renovation projects stay true to the home’s original design, whereas I spend my spare time coming up with new ways to maximize storage in my family’s little cottage by the bay.
Our latest venture into the DIY category has us redesigning a room in our Mom’s home. We spend a lot of time together as a family and she recently decided to turn the back bedroom into a playroom. Since we love getting our hands dirty and never turn down an opportunity to help out our Mom, we told her that we would help her create a space that allows all of her grandchildren to feel creative and welcome.
Our Mom has some very specific design ideas in mind, so we’re just happy hanging out with her and being her worker bees. Each time she comes up with a new idea, we go ahead and implement it for her. It’s been a lot of fun watching Mom create this space for the kids and every time we finish a new project, the smile on her face lights up the room. From repainting the walls to hanging new curtains, the “Kids Klubhouse” is coming along quite nicely.
For our latest project, we wanted to surprise Mom with a piece of original wall-sized artwork to hang in the room. The best part? The kids were going to make it! We would supervise the process to make sure that paint didn’t end up on the furniture, but we would let them run the show. From start to finish, they would be in control of their own designs.
After brainstorming way too many ideas with them, (Have you ever tried to get four cousins to agree on anything?), we finally settled on one. Each child would draw an original caricature of themselves holding onto a balloon. Then, each child would fill up a balloon with their thumbprints! To keep it pretty and bright, we would make the “thumbprint balloons” using several beautiful colors of our favorite paint samples: Ace $.99 Color Sample Pints.
This project was an easy, cost-effective way to create a beautiful piece of heartfelt art work for our Mom. If you’re planning to do this with your own children, I would recommend waiting for a rainy day. We tried to do this on a gorgeous summer morning and the kids were a bit bonkers. However, once they got settled down and started to see how cool their caricatures looked on the canvas, they couldn’t wait to see the end result.
We are so excited to give this to our Mom this week!
Happy painting,
Daniele
P.S. Ace Hardware is having a $.99 Color Sample Pint sale this month! $.99 paint pint offer valid on Valspar and Clark+Kensington. At participating stores 8/1-8/31. Prices may vary. Limit 4. Color samples must be tinted in unique colors.
Getting help at the paint studio at Ace is like going to your neighbor. Visit thepaintstudio.com to find your neighborhood paint studio as well as expert tips and inspiration.
I was compensated for my time and this blog post. All opinions and positions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Ace Hardware.
