DIY: Cheap & Chic Artwork

Ok I swear this is the last time I will write about the Chelsea apartment project. Unless you all twist my arm and want me to answer more questions! :)

 

In addition to yesterday’s DIY project I also received a lot of emails asking me where I purchased the large vintage subway artwork that was hung up in the living room.

 

 

Now to answer the question of where I purchased them leads to a DIY project, because I made them using a handful of things

 

I loved the idea of using vintage maps or postcards for part of the artwork in the room. Only problem was that I had seen them at Brooklyn Flea, which is only on the weekends and due to my time crunch not an option.

 

So I had to come up a back up plan!

 

One of my favorite shops in Manhattan that can lead to many hours of ohhing and ahhing is Kate Paperie. With a quick couple of links I was on their site searching their gift wrapping paper and found my solution.

 

Not only does Cavallini come out with beautiful calendars, but they also have gift wrapping paper, which is what I used. They were only $4.50 and if you join their mailing list you get 20% off your 1st purchase!

 

First thoughts were to then use mod podge and wrap them around canvas, but the canvas at my local craft store were a bit too pricey so I went with foam board instead! The week I went those two boards were onsale for $3!

 

Since my wrapping paper come looking brand new it didn’t give me that desired vintage effect. Heading down into our shop I found some left over wood stain and got to work.

The wood stain I had laying around was a dark walnut shade. Since it looked a little too dark I simply dipped my paper towel in a little water first and then dipped it in stain. Then it’s up to decide how much or little antiquing you want to do with them.

I wanted them to look like they had been dragged through the NYC subway lines so I went to town with the stain!

 

I then let it dry. Next step was applying it to the foam board. If you have spray adhesive you can use that. I had wallpaper paste laying around so I used that instead.

 

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p>I then brushed glue all over the backside of the paper and simply applied it to the foam board. The plus of using wallpaper paste is that you are easily able to left it right off the paper and adjust it as many times as you like.

 

I then smoothed out all the bubbles and let it set!

 

My foam board was a bit larger than the paper so once it was dry I needed to trim the excess off with an exacto knife.

 

Because you are using foam board and not canvas you may find that your board will curve a bit and not lay flat after having the paper applied to it. To fix that problem we simply tacked nails into all 4 corners. Not only did the nails help in attaching it to the wall, but it made the board nice and flat!

 

You are then finished!  Here is a reminder of the finished product and a full view of the living room area!

 

 

The project was super easy and came in at around $10 !

 

Author’s note: I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m still having computer issues! My laptop died last week and still hasn’t decided if it wants to wake up again. In the meantime I’ve been using my Mom’s laptop, but there seems to be something wrong with it, because it keeps freezing. Hmm maybe technology is mad at me or something?

 

This has made working, blogging, commenting, responding to emails super difficult these last two weeks. So sorry if I’m behind on responding to you or if you haven’t received any blog comments from me! Commenting on blogs is one of my favorite things to do! I’m so sad that all my computer issues have made that a rare occasion these last couple of days. I hope to be back in action super soon!

 

Hope you all understand!

 

xoxo,

Camila