I have always been a big DIY girl. Our wedding was FULL of personal touches (the programs, ring box, heart garland, corn hole boards, wedding banners, and party signs to name a few!) and honestly, making those piece was one of my favorite parts of wedding planning to begin with! I LOVE the possibility a blank page/canvas/idea presents…and, while I may not be the best artist in the world, I still have a lot of fun with it :)

Our program fans were the toughest craft for me to make…I gained a lot of respect for all you graphic designers out there with this one! Loved the way they turned out though, even if the weather wasn’t as toasty as expected :)I hole-punched these hearts for WEEKS and strung them on fishing wire. Thank GOODNESS for my amazing aunts & uncles who spent hours setting these up on the actual day…it just happened to be super windy, so I know they got tangled quite a few times…eek!I loved this sign to direct our guests and had so much fun deciding on a font for the “S&C” portion :) And how adorable is my little brother holding our stained & painted ring box!!!After our wedding, I did make a few DIY projects for our apartment here and there, but I hadn’t done much crafting recently between teaching and photography responsibilities! So, when a close friend suggested a girls’ night in with crafting and wine last weekend, I was all on board!! :)

I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to make…but, I knew where I wanted it to go: our mantle! I had posted a photo of our updated spring look last week on Instagram, but I still felt like it was missing a little somethin’ somethin’. So, after a quick trip to the local craft store, the decision that I did not feel like painting and making a huge mess, and a few minutes browsing my Pinterest boards for inspiration, I decided on my craft: a Thumbtack Canvas focusing on one of my favorite songs, “It is well with my soul”!

How to Create a Thumbtack Canvas

Supplies: Canvas of any size (I used a 2×3 canvas), 4 boxes of thumbtacks, pencil with eraser, a ruler, and a glass of wine! (but make sure it isn’t too close to protect from spills :P Haha!)

Step 1: Lay out your canvas on a flat, well-lit surface.

Step 2: Using your ruler as a guide, lightly separate the canvas into 4 sections to help with spacing. I made 3 tiny marks across the top of the page horizontally, but I would recommend marking vertically as well!

Step 3: Before you begin, sketch out your design on some scrap paper with similar proportions until you have a good idea of what you want. This is always the trickiest part for me — and is often where I end up just pushing off the craft to another day out of indecision! When crafting (especially when it’s only a $10 investment), always try to remember that “done is better than perfect” :)

Step 4: Once you’ve decided on a design, lightly script your quote onto the canvas, making adjustments where necessary!

Step 4.5: Pause, take a step back, and sip on that glass of wine before going any further :)

Step 5: Once you’re sure on your placing, put those thumbtacks down! I found that slightly layering the thumbtacks created a more cohesive look, and allowed for some slight adjustments. Remember, you can fix your placing, but only by so much: the thumbtack does leave a hole once you push it through, so there is only a little bit of room to budge! It’s really important to be conscience of each angle, because you can get off track pretty quickly!

Step 6: Once everything is done, take a step back again to see if any minuscule adjustments are necessary, and then enjoy!!! :)

(forgive the iPhone pic…G thought it was super cute too though!)

Happy Friday!!!

Love love love,

Sami