Sunday, September 30, 2012

Fifty Shades of Fall

Here's my DIY art project for Fall 2012.
I'm calling it 'Fifty Shades of Fall'.
There are so many color options when  
decorating for Fall it was making my 
head spin! 
I needed a project that used them all.....
 I picked out 50 paint cards in fall colors.
Laid them out in color groups.
 Trimmed off the color names. 
That gave me a 3-1/4" square. 
I saved the trimmings to use with a 
leaf punch for my next project.
 Randomly arranged the colors.
 Found a scrap piece of thin wood in the
 garage and cut to size.
 Spread Mod Podge on the board in sections 
using a foam brush and placed the 
squares on to adhere.
After it dried a bit and sets, applied a coat 
of Mod Podge all over the top.
 It will look milky but will dry
 clear. 
At this point the colors were very bright.
I wanted it more muted and artsy looking. 
I rinsed the MP off the brush and used it to
apply (whatever) stain I found in the garage. 
Wiped the stain off with a rag right away.
You'll get a grained effect with the wipe-off.
You can also dab it for a slightly different look.
 I ran some stain along the edges of the
 wood to give it a finished look because
 I was not planning on framing it.
 Here it is on it's temporary easel,
 a step ladder.
 Now I need to make an easel! 
 Or find a space to hang it.
Fifty Shades of Fall...my way!
 There must be fifty ways to 'leaf' your lover!

Cheers!

15 comments:

  1. Leaf your lover! lol love it! Paint chips, of the million and one ways they can brighten up a project. Looks great, I lve that you stained it as well.

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  2. What a hoot you are, Rita. Love this and am waiting to see what you'll do with the cut-offs from the paint samples.

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  3. Love the title of your post and I love the project. Beautiful colors. I'm your newest follower. I would love it if you would check out my blog at http://sister-number-5.blogspot.com

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  4. Looks like a fun project! I see it hanging on a porch with some fall folliage in front of it on a table!
    Thanks!

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  5. Oh, I am reveling in fall colors this year! And I am glad to embrace a spectrum that goes beyond orange, yellow, red and brown.
    Will you be making a quilt next?

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  6. This is terrific!
    Love the aged quilt look!

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  7. I'm a quilter so your art project really appeals to me. You did an awesome job of placing your colors and the stain gives it just the right look! Thanks for sharing and inspiring!

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  8. Very cute. I could see this techique used to make a table runner.
    Thanks for sharing
    Traci

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  9. That is just too fun! It looks like an expensive painting! What a great way to celebrate fall colors.

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  10. love your new art piece, great idea to put some stain on it, much better muted.
    hey, I have a great tutorial on my blog for a DIY easel. ;)

    gail

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  11. Hi Rita! This is beautiful. Will you come share it with us at http://www.finecraftguild.com/party-35/ ? I hope so. Hope to see you around..

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  12. I love it....isn't it neat to be able to turn out something that nice with paint squares.

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  13. It would be great on the mantel!

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