Spring Canvas - Valentine's Day Style

So when I took down our Christmas decorations, it was all house-naked up in here. Especially the mantel. Sad, naked, naked, mantel.

But! I had an idea that I wanted to paint a canvas that I could use as a simple backdrop for some Valentine's Day and Easter decorations, soooooo.....

I armed myself with a Michael's coupon and headed on over to my home away from home. I picked out a large     24 x 30 inch canvas, brought it home, and then proceeded to get completely overwhelmed by the blankness of the thing. It's what I do. Every. Single. Time.

Then I put my big girl panties on.

And then I did a little measuring and taping.

And then I painted.

And then I moved the tape and painted some more.

I kept moving the tape and painting. Each block needed two or three coats of paint. And, because I'm me, I changed the color just a little bit every time I added more paint. So, no, it's not the picture quality changing the color. That would be me. And then I wasn't paying enough attention and I messed up the taping. *sigh* Might as well show you.

Not what I wanted at all! Soooo... I fixed it. And then I spent another hour or three going over every straight line with a teeny tiny paint brush and driving myself insane because no matter how hard I try, painter's tape and I are not best friends. At best, we tolerate each other's existence. But I finally beat the painter's tape lines and hung that sucker up.

It does need a frame. I'm looking! I'm looking! I promise! As soon as I find a good one, I'll let you know.

I painted some old bottles and Dollar Tree vases using this extra fancy technique. It did take much more time than spray painting them, but I love the extra gloss the glass provides because the paint is on the inside. And then I put a cute little heart sticker on the little bottles just because I could. 

I KNOW! The flowers! I usually don't have this many fake flowers going on, but I can't help it - I think they're perfect for spring! If I had a garden, maybe I'd use the real thing, but for now... I LOVE these!

Look how ugly this Estate Sale find used to be before I saved it. What do people keep inside such vessels? I have no idea. 

And look at it now! It's all growns up! Are you dying to know what I keep inside it? Lip balm. Because I stash lip balm in every room of my house. I'm addicted. Now you know my secret. My mantel holds flowers, painted vases, and lip balm.

Remember I said I wanted to use the canvas as a backdrop, right? I taped some jute to the back and clothes-pinned on some simple hearts I cut out of scrapbook paper to see if I liked the general look of it.

And I did! I liked it! So I took the hearts down and fancied them up a bit. Sparkle makes everything better.

Now those are some serious Valentine's Day hearts!

Happy Spring!