This little project is one half of a “Merry and Bright” thing I’m working on for our holiday decor, which is turning out kind of awesome, if I do say so myself.
I can’t wait to share our Christmas house with you (I’ll be participating in Like A Saturday’s Christmas Tour of Homes). I should probably be done with my Christmas decorating by one week into December, huh? I do have decorations up, but it all just keeps evolving… Ha!
Anyway. I really wanted a lit sign for the “bright” half of my “Merry and Bright.” There are tons of great lighted projects out there, but I wanted something I could put together pretty quickly and without power tools. Here’s what I came up with!
If you want to make one for yourself, you will need:
- A canvas
- Paint (I used Martha Stewart’s yellow gold metallic craft paint)
- Brush
- Pencil and eraser
- Battery-powered string lights
To start, I printed off “bright” in a font I like on a piece of paper the same proportions as my canvas. I folded the paper into eighths to give me a good idea of how to space out my letters.
I drew my grid onto my canvas and then drew out my word. When I was pretty happy with it, I painted over the letters. Then, when the paint was dry, I erased any visible pencil marks.
To light my canvas I used two strings of these battery-powered lights I picked up by the mini trees at Target.
Two strings gave me 40 lights. Looking at the back of the canvas so I could see my letters, I marked out where each light would go.
I used a pair of sharp scissors to poke holes in the canvas and just poked the lights through. I secured the battery packs to the canvas with duct tape. And done!
At night, you lose the letters a bit. My husband suggested outlining the letters, which would probably be good at night, but I don’t know if I would like it during the day. What would you do? I’d love some input!
Linking up at some of my favorite parties.
Comments + Project Love
Amy @ Homey Oh My! says
OOOHHH MYYYYY GOSSSHHH. Literally took my breath away. <br />OK, I just recently used that same gold paint, and it turn out NOTHING like yours! It was almost watery and hardly had much of a gold sheen to it. Maybe I got a bad one??<br />Anyways, this is insanely beautiful. I really, really want one.
Amber Koogler says
Love!! Can't wait to see your house tour!! <br />
Alexis Middleton says
Thanks, Amber! I hope it all turns out… 🙂
amy says
Wowie. This turned out so amazing and i LOVE that you made it without power tools. I'm still a little nervous to break the big boy tools without my hubs around. I agree, you slightly lose the "bright" at night, but it's still so beautiful maybe it doesn't matter? Would it be ubber tacky to trace the outline of the letters with glow in the dark paint? It would be fairly
Corey W. says
This is awesome! I have this on my to do list but don't think I'll get to it this year. Love it. Love your entire mantle!
Alexis Middleton says
Thanks, Corey! So many projects, so little time, right? I was just over checking out your Christmas home tour, and it looks so great!
Amanda Ghizzone says
This looks amazing! I love that it is simple and modern while maintaining a certain elegance 😉 Great idea!
Alexis Middleton says
Thanks, Amanda!
Bethany says
I love this!!!! Very clever, and oh-so-cute!
FishesMakeWishes says
fantastic project, I love how simple it is but still eye catching!
Camille {Sugar Baby Boutique} says
Leave it!! I love everything about this.
Krista thehappyhousie says
I love it Alexis! One of my favorite ideas this season! Pinning!
Ashlyn Edwards says
What a great tutorial and great decorating idea! I found your post at the Think Pink link party and had to tell you what a great tutorial and great decorating idea you have here! I'm going to follow you on bloglovin' so I can keep up! <br /><br />Ashlyn @ belleofthekitchen.com
Deonna Wade says
How cute! I had to come check out your sign since you said it was kinda like mine. I have an outlet on my mantle so it's easy to plug in but I might have to do those lights when we move someday. I love the gold!
Mindi Carwin says
So pretty Alexis!! I love it so much!
Hani Shabbir says
I am loving this beautiful canvas.. Featuring it at Craftionary and sharing it on social media today.. 🙂 Happy crafting!
Clotee S says
Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year! <br />Bring you Good wishes of happiness. <br /><br />Sorry for greeting you earlier,, just don't want miss saying this.<br />By the way, I'm clotee. I am blogger too, and now try my best luck to open an e-store. Nice to know you.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><a href="http://www.clotee.com" rel="nofollow">Clotee</a>
Allison @ dreamalittlebigger.com says
This is amazing, Alexis! The second I saw the first pic I started looking around my room for a spare canvas! Ha! Perhaps I can wrangle up one of these for my mantle this weekend. Love, love, love!!!
Aurelia Eglantine says
Wonderful idea and tutorial! I've wanted to try a light canvas for ages now but was stymied by my lack of extra outlets. Using battery-powered lights and taping the cases in the back corners is a great solution 🙂 I also think the softer look of the letters at night is really nice, but maybe a darker gold would work for an outline? A paint pen or metallic Sharpie marker might be easier to
Julia Klimek says
I made a lit canvas, but it's not even close to as cool as yours! Really pretty and creative! Julia
Pauline Molinari says
Love this! Pinned! Thanks for sharing on the Monday Funday link party!
Mabey She Made It says
Your canvas is beautiful! I love how simple it is and yet how effective the lights are. Thanks for sharing at the Do Tell Tuesday party. Hope to see you again!
Cheryl @ Sew Can Do says
This is so gorgeous & so surprisingly simple – thank you! Pinned to try. Would love for you to link it to my Craftastic link party:http://www.sewcando.com/2013/12/a-snowy-craftastic-monday-link-party.html 🙂
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Friedhelm says
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Baphira Ecommerce says
so lovely, i wish i could buy them, even in second hand like those cute ones http://www.for-sale.co.uk/led-fibre-optic-christmas-tree