Poetry on Canvas
I shared with you about redoing my bedroom last year, read about (Part 1) and (Part 2). But I have not rehung any wall art yet because I’ve had a project in mind that will be the main piece of art for the room. Have you seen any Poetry on Canvas yet? Or maybe song lyrics?
RESEARCH:
Mr. Menace writes beautiful poetry. The first poem he wrote for me was about 15 years ago not long after we started dating. We lived in different towns and he sent me a single rose for Valentine’s Day. On the card he had them write his original poem.
I decided I wanted to paint this poem on canvas and hang it in our bedroom. Michael’s had their art supplies 1/2 price and I purchased the largest canvas. Then I put off doing the painting because I just wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about it. Pinterest was again my best friend and I found several suggestions for how to create my vision.
Phtoto from Jessica Demais DIY
And then, I just decided to do it and let the chips fall where they may.
BACKGROUND:
I painted my canvas with a coat of white acrylic craft paint and while I was doing it, I had a thought. After locating my leftover bedroom wall paint, which was white with GLITTER added, I put a coat on the canvas! The glitter is faint but when the light hits it just right, BLING!
TRANSFERRING:
I thought about free-handing the poem, but that really scared me, so I typed the poem into my Word program on my computer. Looking at fonts, I tried to find one that resembled Mr. Menace’s handwriting, but none of them were messy enough. ha! I finally chose a font that looks like handwriting, called Journal, and I downloaded it for free from HERE.
The font was small so I enlarged it to 150 and printed it out. I then placed the sheets of paper onto my 24″x36″ canvas and immediately knew the words were not big enough, so I then enlarged the font size to 250 and it fit perfectly!
The next step was to turn the sheets of paper over and shade the letters in pencil on the back side of the paper. This was a little bit time consuming but not bad.
When I finished, I turned the paper back right side up and placed them on the canvas and began tracing over the letters on the front side. This made the pencil marks on the back side transfer to the canvas. I had to place some books underneath the canvas to give it a firm backing to do this.
Luckily, I did not have to draw any lines on my canvas. Because my font was so big, only one word printed per page, so I was able to line up the top edge of the paper with the top edge of the canvas for the first line of the poem. For the other lines, I lined up the top edge of the paper with the bottom of the words on the previous line. This kept everything equal distance.
PAINTING:
Once I had the faint outlines on the canvas, it was time to paint.
I was very shaky at first. But after I did a little bit, I relaxed and got much better. Besides, I wanted it to look handwritten.
But bending over at the dining table sure was making my back hurt!
Thank Goodness Mr. Menace arrived home soon and was able to help me get my easel set up. It was smooth sailing from there!
As the afternoon wore on, and it began to get a little darker in the room, I finally realized that my reading glasses would probably help me to stay within the lines. Duh…
*This poem is copyrighted and may not be used or duplicated without the author’s consent. Excerpts and Links are permissible with proper credit.*
I am very happy with the way it turned out.
**Thank you Mary at The Boondocks Blog for featuring my DIY Wall Art at the Sweet Inspiration Link Party!**
And I love having the poem hanging where I can read it every single day as soon as I wake up.
This man. He knows how to romance a woman.
Link Parties:
I love it! Such a great idea in how to actually do the process. Good job Dennis AND Nikki! 🙂
Well, I’ve had it in my mind for several years now… LOL I’m a little slow. It was mostly fear of messing it up that held me back. Thanks! 🙂
Sounds like me and why I don’t do so many projects I would like to!
and this girl! so proud she’s my daughter! as talented as her daddy
And my Mama. She is very creative and I wish I were half as good as her! 🙂
This looks so beautiful my friend! And how sweet is that poetry! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Jen! Your post really did give me the push to get it done. I had planned it for a couple of years but never followed through. Thanks for visiting and commenting. 🙂
How special this is. I consider it a family heirloom. It is such a wonderful idea to commenorate a special day.
Oh thanks so much Debra! I do hope you are right and the kids appreciate their Dad’s talent for writing. 🙂
What an incredible idea! I love it. It’s a perfect piece of sentimental artwork. You did a great job with the lettering.
Thank you! I was truly worried about messing it up, but it turned out to be easier than I expected. 🙂
This is such a sweet way to keep a special memory close by! I’m a sucker for things like this. I had my husbands wedding band engraved with a special word we had when we were dating after being friends for 14 years. I’m sure he feels special that you added this to your decor..
Hello Wendi, You are the first Wendi that I have met that spells it like my sister’s is spelled. Thanks so much for visiting. I read the poem every morning now and I just love it. 🙂
Wow, I love this idea. I have some canvas that I was going to paint, but like this idea much better as a gift maybe to my DIL for her birthday or just quotes for my room. Thank so much for sharing your technique. ~hugs ‘n giggles ‘n scribbles~
Peabea@Peabea Scribbles
Thanks so much Peabea! I’d love to see what you do with your canvas. Thanks for the visit. 🙂
This is awesome and you did a great job with it. It would make me smile every morning to see it on the wall! Thanks for sharing with us!
Hi Laurie! Thanks so much. I do really love looking at it every single morning and night. 🙂
You husband is the best! But you dear Nikki are pretty awesome too by making the poem on canvas you have captured his feelings for all time.The best kind of art is always personal and from the heart!
Thank you so much Mary. I am just so proud to share my love poem with the world. And I totally agree that personal art is so much more meaningful than something off the shelf. Thanks for the visit. 🙂
Nikki you are my feature for tomorrow’s Sweet Inspiration Link Party! Congrats.
Thank you so much Mary! Quite exciting. xxoo
Love this idea, my friend!
Thanks Mia! I am glad that I finally got it done. Thanks for visiting with me. 🙂
I love this idea although I’m not sure I would have the patience. It looks so effective. I would like to do one showing all the countries I have visited. Thanks so much for linking up with us at #overthemoon. I’ve shared on social media. Have a great week and look forward to you link up next week.
Sue
Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond
Hi Sue. I like your idea. You could certainly speed up the process by using a projector to get your chosen words on the canvas. OR just freehand it! Thanks for visiting. 🙂
This project looks like it was a lot of work! But, it turned out great, and it’s such a unique and personal decoration for your bedroom. It looks great!
Hi Carol. The only time consuming part was getting my outline on the canvas. It could be sped up greatly with a projector. I loved doing it though, and even more, I LOVE reading it every day. Thanks for visiting. 🙂
Oh how beautiful Nikki. Such a perfectly beautiful work of art to add to your bedroom decor. Stunning
Thanks Michelle! I love it! 🙂
Awe, that is really, really sweet! So beautiful. Thank you for sharing this at Make it Pretty! Have a lovely weekend. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
He bowls me over with his poetic abilities. I love reading this every day now. Thanks so much! 🙂
Song lyrics make wonderful home art. The lyrics paint a picture in your mind, I love the irony of that thought. Your art work is very moving.
Thanks Leanna, I am really enjoying it. 🙂
Your painting is so neat I love the idea of poetry on canvas
Thank you! I love my poetry and I am loving looking at it every single day! Thanks for visiting. 🙂
Aww Nikki, this is so sweet. I just love sentimental stuff like that. Thanks for sharing. xx
Thanks Kate. 🙂
THIS is AWESOME – my daughter is totally into poetry – am going to share as an idea for her room. I think she’s going to love!
Thanks for sharing & inspiring me at Reader Tip Tuesday. Hope to see you at this week’s party xo
Thanks so much Jodie. I am so pleased to finally be sharing my lovely poem with the world. I kept it in my heart and my wallet for so long that sharing it is the greatest. Be sure to let me know what your daughter does with her poetry! 🙂
What a great idea! I may have to dig out my husbands old love letters to me and try this!
Oh that would be awesome Amy! I love that idea. I can’t wait to see what you do. Please share with me when you do. 🙂
This is a lovely idea, thanks for sharing your how to!
Thank you Olivia! And thank you for visiting with me. I loved seeing you again. 🙂
Nikki, you did a great job as did your husband. I just think is there anything you can’t do? lol You decorate, you paint, you garden you are one busy lady.
Such a fabulous idea!!
Thanks Stacey. I am so happy with it. 🙂
What a beautiful project! love the fonts
Thanks Maria. I really would have liked to do it in his own handwriting, but I think I’d need a projector for that. 🙂
LOVE this idea. So many wonderful quotes that would inspire even more if they were on canvas. Gracias for the inspiration. BB2U
P.S. Think your hubby can give my hubby Sweetie some lessons in the romancing dept? Just Sayin’
Hey! A new business adventure… “LEARNING MAN SKILLS with Dennis the Menace” ~from Workshop to Romance… hahaha Love it Babushka! 🙂
Oh, he’s a keeper, Nikki! But, of course you already know this. 😉 Great idea to create handwritten poetry on canvas. I’d seen one of the Fixer*Upper shows and I think it was about Max Lucado’s daughter and husband buying a house. When it was all done, Joanna Gaines had had one of his letters to his daughter painted onto a canvas. It was really a tear jerker and stunning! Happily pinning and sharing to FB for you and our readers.
Hugs,
Barb 🙂
Thanks again Barb! I really enjoy having this poem where I can read it every day. And I love that Joanna copied me… *wink* 🙂