Utah LOVE Canvas Tutorial

I fell in love with this idea right away

I saw it here first 

Pinned it of course 

(talked about here)

and thought to myself I could totally make that 

So I did

Of Utah 

Utah is where I was born

Although I have lived in other states

it is where I mostly grew up

It is where I fell in love with gymnastics

It is where I went to college

It is where I met my hubby

It is where I got married to my Ty

It is where our Maddux was born

It is where Ty goes to law school

It is where we live as a family

and it is where I have about a bagillion amazing memories

So why not display something that means so much to you

That reminds you of where you come from

You all want one now right?!

I thought so....

so I decided to whip ya up a tutorial on how I made mine

Utah was just especially easy because of its shape

But of course this would work for all states 

So follow along with me and 

Lets do this!

What you will need:

-A canvas (I used a 9 X12)

-Your state print out of vinyl stencil

- Paint (one for your state, one for your background 

and one for your hearts if you choose to paint those)

-Vinyl (for your hearts if you choose to go that route)

-Painter tape (you might not need it but I did)

-Foam paint brushes

Here is what I did:

Well since I am all about using what I already have

And love FREE

I used a brown canvas that I didn't end up using for something else

And since I wanted Utah to be White 

I just grabbed some spray paint 

I had in the garage and sprayed away

Now it looks good as new

But most of you will start with one that looks like this 

If you want your state to be a color besides white your first step will

be to paint your canvas that color

and let it completely dry before the next step

Next I got online and found a good 

silhouette of my State, Utah

Sized it

Printed it out and cut it out

Then you will want to put painters tape along the edges of your print

to seal it 

this will not allow any paint to bleed through

I didn't do this at first and it bled a little so 

I went back and put the painters tape around it

So take it from me and my mistake and 

do it from the very beginning

Believe me you will thank me for it

It was a nice crisp line after I did that step

Then you will want to take your paint color 

that you want the background to be

And paint the rest of the canvas

Painting along the print first

Taking your brush and going from the print outward

Then paint the whole canvas including all the edges

Let it dry completely and do another coat

I painted three coats

because I really wanted it a bright, crisp and clean color

and I let it dry completely in between each coat

Then I took off the painters tape and 

removed the cut out of Utah carefully 

and I got my turquoise/blue background 

and my white Utah

To clean it up a tiny bit I took some white paint and did 

a quick coat along the state 

And it was just how I wanted it

And very lastly It was time to add my hearts

to the places that mean the most to me

I have only seen one heart on all the state canvas out there

But there are two places in Utah that mean the world to me

So I put a big heart in the SLC area 

(where I was born and where Ty and I got married)

And a little smaller heart in Cedar City

(where I went to college, where I met Ty, 

where we got our first place together, 

and where we started our family, Baby M was born in Cedar)

You can either paint the hearts on or use Vinyl

I decided to use vinyl and I love the look 

and it was way easier

I just hoped on my silhouette 

found a heart I liked 

cut it and stuck it right on the canvas where I wanted it

If you don't have a cricut or silhouette

you can paint the heart on 

you can hand cut the vinyl into a heart

or you can borrow someones cutting machine :)

Anyone that lives around me can borrow mine when ever

just give me a little message or comment 

and we will make it happen

Seriously

Told ya I was pretty cool

And there ya go

You have your beautiful state canvas

In whatever colors you want

and in whatever state means the most to you

I promise you will love it

It is easy and such a fun reminder

of your memories and where you come from 

If you make one send me pictures I wanna see 

what your creativity brings to the table

and would love to see all the different 

states, colors and memories 

Also if you have any more questions 

email them to me or comment 

and I will get back to you all 

My state Canvas is linked up 

to all the parties in my Where I link tab HERE 

and here

And just for fun here is a reminder of why 

I love being a mommy so much

There is just something about this little man 

that I just can't even put into words

He has taught me so much

He has touched a place in my heart that has never been touched

And his kisses, loves and snuggles simply melt my heart

We ventured out to Wheeler farm last Friday 

on a play date with some friends

and M had a blast

Seeing all the animals

picnicking

and playing in the play house

Being a mom really is the best job in the world

even when it is hard

Have a Happy Tuesday

Get your creative juices flowing

Make yourself a state love canvas

and don't forget to enter the Cait + Create giveaway HERE

You have until Thursday at midnight

Oh and exciting news my 4th of July Wreath was featured here 

 

And my Keep Calm and Carry on sign was featured HERE 

Thank you for your support and reading :)