My kitchen and dining room area had a bald spot on the wall that just needed some color. I had made a valence for the window over the sink and I wanted to tie in the green in that valance with a new golden yellow that I had fallen in love with after buying an entire bolt of sheer fabric for $2 at Home Fabrics.
Here's my simple valance:
This valance most definitely needed a friend with common colors, so in comes the creativity.
I received most of the inspiration for this project from Ashley of makeit-loveit.com. You can view her tutorial of how to build the wood canvas here. I made the bones of my project from one large square of pressed wood and used a staple gun to attach the sized 1X2 pieces of wood along the back edges. The final size of the wooden frame/canvas was 2 ft by 2 ft.
After the wooden frame was created, I wrapped my chosen green stripe fabric tightly over and around the back edges of the frame and secured with the staple gun.
Then came the FUN part of this project... making it look beautiful.
I have made twisted fabric flowers often for hair accessories, but I wanted to use them in my decorating. These flowers are simple to make and are a great way to use scrap fabric. To make twisted fabric flowers, you will need a strip of fabric. The width and length are very flexible, I usually cut my fabric to about 3 inches by 20 inches. Start by tying a knot in one end of the fabric, that is the center of your flower. Then, twist the fabric while turning it around that center knot, around and around, while holding tight in your fingers, until it is the size you are wanting. Tight twisting, loose twisting and a mixture of the two all give your flower different finished looks. I think loose twisting looks more like a rose, while tight twisting looks more like a big twisted lolly-pop, experiment for yourself and see what you like. If your flower gets hard to hold together, you can start glueing it together as you go. I usually hold it until it is all done, then I turn the last edge to the under side and place it all down on a big gob of hot glue on a piece of felt. Then, I trim the felt into a circle for the back of the flower. Then it is ready to be placed on your project.
So, back to the wall art: I started out just making a bunch of individual flowers without knowing the arrangement I would end up with on the fabric canvas. Then, after making many flowers of different sizes, I chose to use an iron-on transfer to include a message of gratitude. Then, arranging the flowers and fabric around the quote was simple and the only steps left were to hang it up on the wall and enjoy seeing it several times a day in my kitchen.
As a way to tie together my new found kitchen theme, I made 3 small twisted fabric flowers and hot glued round magnets on the back and they now beautify my fridge.
I hope you have enjoyed learning about my fabric wall art and I hope you make one for your homemade home!
~ Chelsea ~
