diy art Archives - C.R.A.F.T.

DIY License Plate Map {Update}

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen the DIY license plate map in progress. My mom and I started making it about 2 months ago, and it’s finally done. We made the 1^st license plate map back in 2008, but this time around we found a little short cut with that same awesome look! (Here’s the first post about the DIY license plate map and here’s a follow up post with license plate map tips and tricks.)

Instead of making the board ourselves, using a paper map to cut the plates, and tracing the outline of the map onto the board. We bought a map from World Market that already had the United States outlined on it… a giant time saver! The map costs 79.99 full price, but we used a 20% off coupon (sign up for emails)! We totally suggest this method if you’re in the market for a license plate map. So, here is what we started with:

Here’s what you need to make your own map:

License plates
Map board
Wax paper
Tin snippers (We have 3 pairs of tin snippers: let cut, right cut, and straight cut. The straight cut are by far the easiest to work with!)
Tape
Nails
Hammer
Sharpie marker

The hardest part of making the map, is cutting the plates. And there is no short cut for that. My mom did most of the cutting with her handy dandy straight cut tin snippers. Some plates are easier than others, but cutting license plates stinks. Also, instead of using a map we found in National Geographic we used wax paper to trace the state already outlined on the World Market map board, then taped the wax paper to the plate to determine how we wanted to cut license plate. These pictures should help it make more sense…

Another question we get a lot is: Where do you find the plates? This can be tricky and expensive. My mom has quite a collection these days. But, she starts by buying a lot of 50 plates, usually on Amazon or ebay. You get one of each state and it’s something to work with. Then she buys a black Texas and a blue California. Then we start cutting the plates and nailing them into place, when we realize that let’s say, 5 states are all white plates, my mom does a little search and finds a colored plate that to break up the white. Here is one of her favorite license plate sites.

So if you notice, the top map has a white Missouri. We couldn’t have that ; ) Check out the middle map, we’ve got a marroon-ish Missouri and the 3rd map pic, we got a new Iowa and Nebraska!

The reason the map takes so long to make is because we were always waiting on more license plates to show up, ha!

So the big news is: We often get emails about making and selling license plate maps. The problem is, they are expensive and time consuming to make! But, if you can not live with out a license plate map (ha!), we are selling this one for $2500! If you think that’s a lot, you could also buy one here for $3,900! We will happily continue to answer questions and help you make your own! But if you think it’s too much work or not ready for the tin snippers… we’ve got you covered! Email me at craftaway at gmail dot com if you are interested in buying a one of kind license plate map!

Psst… Here is the first DIY license plate map post and here are more tips and tricks to make your own map.

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How to wall paper (the easy way)

Mar 26 posted by Jamie Dorobek

Wall paper is cool again, but hanging wall paper the traditional way is not so cool. It’s hard. You have to measure and cut and do all kinds of crazy things. What if I told you wall papering was really easy? My crafty real life friend, Rachelle, recently bought a condo in Austin, and she’s sprucing it up big time. I’m kind of helping, ha! At least I helped with this wall paper project. We discovered a simple method that works like a charm.

Here’s what you need:

Wallpaper tool kit
Paint tray and paint brush
Wallpaper paste
Thin sheets of paper
Ladder

Here’s how it works: Apply a thin layer of wall paper paste on your wall, stick a sheet of paper to it, cover with a thin layer, voila… done! Well, continue the process until the entire wall is covered, but yea… it’s that easy. It feels like mod podge-ing your wall.

We used a patchwork method to apply the the paper. We overlapped the sheets of paper just a tad, and we wrapped the corners of the wall. We like that you can see the seams!

The 2 walls took us about 2 hours. It’s really that easy!

Have you ever wall papered a wall? I remember helping my mom remove wall paper back in the day… that was not a fun chore! How do you feel about using wall paper? I’d love to hear…

Psst… If you’re interested in learning how to make a t-shirt quilt, we are doing Part 3 of a 3 part series this Wednesday, you can see it live on my google + page! Here is Part 1 and Part 2.

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Filed Under: diy art, diy home projects, paper crafts

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Gallery Wall Tips and Tricks

Mar 13 posted by Jamie Dorobek

*Note: This was a guest post that 1st appeared on Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke!

For me, decorating with people I love is a no brainer. I heart pictures of my friends and family. In our Florida rental (we moved back to TX in Dec. 2012), putting holes in the wall was literally almost impossible. The walls of the 16 story condo building were concrete. I had to find a way. We were 1000+ miles away from the people we loved, and I wanted them on my wall! I ended up using 3M picture hanging strips like a manic. Check it out. Every picture except the 2 really big ones were hung with 3M strips. They worked like a charm!

For our Florida rental, I chose to hang mostly black and white pictures with mostly white frames. As you can see, there were a few exceptions, but it made for a cohesive-ish gallery wall. I wanted the picture frames to feel like wall paper and go from floor to celling. By wallpaper, I just mean the frames make a pseudo repetitive pattern, like this: (That’s Andy, my husband!)

The picture above makes me smile because each frame holds a memory. I hung a ton of portraits of our friends and family at different stages in our lives (Andy with his mama when he was itty bitty, me and my siblings 15 years ago, etc… ) But, I also added sentimental things like a post card from Andy’s dad to Andy as a little boy, the Texas cut out I made, and all of the cross stitches are hand made by my mama. Gallery walls can be made a bazillion different ways. In my opinion, you can not go wrong with a gallery wall as long as when you look at it, it makes you happy! And since we didn’t know anyone in Florida, when we did have people over, they loved looking and asking about our freinds and family back home. The gallery wall was a great conversation starter!

See the arrow in the picture above? Those are tiny toy cars that Andy used to play with as a child. I sat them on top of the post card from his dad. Cute, right? Here are some tips and tricks I use when creating a gallery wall:

Spray paint makes any frame better. Pick a color (or a few) and give your frames a fresh coat for a cohesive look.
Don’t freak out about holes. They can easily be filled (white toothpaste) or you can always use 3M strips, like me!
If the picture makes you smile, hang it up.
Hang up old pictures of when you and your husband were little… it brings back fun memories. I had one up of my dad from his college football days!
Don’t pay full price for a frame, pretty please! You can always get frames half off at Hobby Lobby or Michaels! (Here’s how to get white frames from Michael’s for $2.06 each!)
Change out the pictures as often as you’d like. It’s fun to have new pics in your gallery wall.
Switch pics for sayings and vice versa. You can see my “Squeeze the Day” frame, next to the TX cutout, above.
Spruce up the wall for holidays. Change out pics for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas, etc…