Easy Valentine’s Chalkboard Art

I love and I mean LOVE this time of year! I love…love.  It makes me so excited to have a time of year set aside for love and admiration.  It brings such joy to my heart.  That and to be honest, I think it’s because I get to use a lot of pink décor in a house full of boys.

I had this epic idea of what I could make to incorporate all of the things I am in love with right now, only to have it fail. Have you ever had that happen?  But not to worry, it ended up taking on a new life of it’s own and I must say I love the way this easy Valentine’s chalkboard art turned out!

From this…

to this!

 

While shopping at our local thrift store, I came across this 16 x 20 canvas and just knew that I had to have it. Have you ever come across pieces like that? It’s so fun taking something and making it new again.

The vision I had for this project was to have an antique look for the back ground with the words LOVE spelled out using a glitter ombre look.  For supplies I used Modge Podge, a sponge brush and and old book.

I started by painting a layer of Modge Podge and tearing out sheets from the book. Next I layered the sheets onto the canvas. At first I was so in love with the way it was turning out only to come back and see this…

EPIC fail!  The sheets were extremely wrinkled and not lying flat at all.  Note to self – canvas and Modge Podge don’t work so well.  The canvas is stretched and gives and you need a hard surface, something like wood, to get the look I was going for.

Onto phase two.  The other vision I had for this beauty was to paint it white and glitter the letters LOVE with an ombre effect.  So after peeling off several layers of book pages covered in Modge Podge, I grabbed the white paint and went to work.  After several coats, and I mean several coats of white, this is how it looked.

I wanted to lay it out to see how it would look so I used the pencil eraser to write out my words.  I found this red heart at a local craft store and knew it would make the perfect O if you will.  I was going to glue the heart on the canvas and bling the letters out with glitter.  I was all ready to get going and then it still just didn’t feel right.  I wasn’t loving the look.
I was just about ready to give up and go crazy when I glanced over and saw the chalk paint out of the corner of my eye! BINGO!  That’s it!  Attempt #3!

After painting it with chalkboard paint a new vison formed.  I pulled out my chalks and got to work.  I knew I still wanted the ombre effect only now to use chalk instead.

I am in love with the way this is turning out.   I drew chalk lines where I wanted my colors to be and started playing around.  I mean coloring. Creativity is messy what can I say?

Here is an up close and personal shot of my creation taking shape.

Since I went with the chalkboard option, I knew I know longer wanted the heart attached on the canvas so I used it as a stencil instead and incorporated a little blue along the way.   I am so pleased with the way it turned out.  Just remember, if your projects don’t go as planned to begin with, don’t give up as you can always tweak it and come up with something even better!  Happy Valentine’s Day!