Lipstick, Lace & Coffee: Family Rules Tutorial

I've been working on our Family Rules sign since October.

That's nuts to me!

I'm usually the kind of girl who gets my mind on something and has to have it completed pronto.

But due to how intricate and finicky this was…I needed frequent breaks from it.

But here it is…

finally finished and hung on our wall.

Here's how I did it…

~I started with a blank canvas like this one (only mine measures 24"x30") from Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon. I think it cost me around $15.00.

~Then I painted it with acrylic paint. And I wasn't able to find the exact color I wanted so I mixed a dark brown with some black.

This took me about 3 coats to make it look flawless.

This is when it gets really time consuming.

~I purchased a pack of scrapbook paper for all of my letters from Wal-Mart for about $5.00. Making sure to choose really neutral colors, that wouldn't look crazy against the dark brown canvas.

Most of the pages did have a design to them which added a fun element to the letters. Making each work totally unique (but only if you look closely).

~Next I used a Circut to help me cut out all my letters (I borrow one from a friend).

This is really time consuming because you have to use extreme caution to get all of the tiny letters off of the sticky pad. I didn't have a tool to remove the letters for I used the tip of a steak knife….worked like a charm!

I would only cut out one line at a time, to ensure I didn't mix all my paper together.

I used a different size, and sometimes a different "shadow" font, to ensure a little texture on the canvas.

If you like all of your words to be the same size…this would make things much easier and much more effiennt. But alas…I like to be difficult!

~Then I used a really long level to lay down a piece of clear tape on the canvas. This gave me a way to ensure I would have a straight line when gluing my letters down.

In this photo you can see the plastic tape that made my line, and you can also see how I arranged my letters.

~I used a tiny piece of tape to stick each letter onto my clear tape line.

I made sure to have my letters sticking to the top of my tape, that way if I needed to rearrange any of my lines (which I had to do several times!) It was easy to peel and re-stick my entire line without having to deal with each individual letter.

~After I had all of my lines arranged (this took a long time seeing as how I was never fully satisfied with everything) it was time to glue them down.

~I used Mod Podge and a paint brush to paint each letter (exhausting…I know) and then stick it to the canvas. Having the tape was again very helpful because I was able to remove only one letter at a time and place it EXACTLY where it needed to go.

*note…only put the glue on the bottom side of the letter, trying to put the Mod Podge on the top only seemed to made the letters fall off…weird…I know)

~And that's it!~

It doesn't take many brains to get this done…but it does take patience.

I had to take a lot of breaks, because I was getting really burnt out.

I'm so happy with the way it turned out.

And I love that it's completely custom for our family. These rules came from both James and me, and these are my these are the exact qualities I want my children to have.