Paint (by) Numbers

Good morning!  I'm really excited today to link up to the Pinterest Challenge.  This challenge was started by Sherry at Young House Love and Katie at Bower Power last summer, and there's a new one every season.  This time, Erin and Cassie are cohosting.  The basic idea is to have a motivation to actually create something that's inspired you on Pinterest.  I actually discovered Bower Power through the first challenge, which I'm very grateful for; if you're not reading her blog, well, you should be.  If you asked me to sum Bower Power up in seven words, they would be: bacon, somewhat inappropriate jokes, and budget-friendly design ideas.  Pretty much right up my alley.

You may remember my first go at the Pinterest Challenge, the frame wall.  Since Madison doesn't spend more than half the day napping anymore, I needed something a little less time consuming this go-around.  I went back through my pins, finding pretty much nothing I'm interested in actually doing myself (am I the only one that can't not pin every crock pot recipe I come across?), then finally came across a tutorial for hand painting letters.

The method Jaime (she's the brains behind That's My Letter) came up with is, like most Pinterest ideas, pretty simple and pretty brilliant.  Unlike most Pinterest ideas, there is no Silhouette machine required!  You just print out the letters (or, in my case, numbers), then trace them onto your surface.

My plan was to use this method to make an address plaque for our house.  For the last five years, we've lived without one.  Normally, that doesn't affect our lives in any way, but when we have company (or the pizza guy) coming over, we find ourselves saying things like "we're the one with the red door"(not so bad), or "the only house on the street with the unmowed grass" (oops), or "the one with the broken down mustang in the front yard"(long story).  Not cool.

My goal was to do this project for free, with only materials I had on hand, or that I could beg, borrow, or steal.  Thankfully, I was able to complete the project without breaking any state or federal regulations.  My parole officer will be pleased (or would be if he/she existed).  All I needed was:

printer (if you want to get technical I also used paper and ink)
ballpoint pen
wooden surface (I chose an old shelf removed from our bathroom)
paint brush
paint (leftover from my mom's front door, this will also be our front door color)

First, I placed the numbers on the shelf plaque, then traced (with very firm pressure) them onto the wood.  Forgive me for the blurry number.  Better safe than robbed blind because you posted your address on the internet!

I was left with a very fine indentation of the numbers.  It was hard to see inside, but when I brought it outside into full sun, I was able to paint within the lines pretty easily.  I did make very light marks at the corners.

 Like I mentioned earlier, I just used what I had on hand, which meant painting these numbers with a one inch foam brush.  That's not what I would have originally chosen for the project, but it actually worked pretty well.

 I was able to complete the project, from start to finish, during Madison's nap.  Here's the before(the hooks were there from the previous owner's name plaque):

 And after:

 I really like the way it turned out.  I'm already trying to figure out what else I can use this technique for, but I'm not really into the rustic/country thing.  Hmm.  I guess it's time to get pinning again!

Did you participate in the challenge?  I'd love to see your project!

-Kelli