The Writing On The Wall

I have this space in the house that has been bothering me for awhile. I have been wanting to do something with it but had no idea what to do with it.

So never mind the Christmas wreath hanging there. It's the first wall you see when you walk into the house leading into the kitchen (Just for reference, the sitting room is directly to the right and the stairs to go up to the bedrooms is to the left. In the kitchen, just on the other side of the doorway is a staircase that goes down to the family room.) But the space in question is where that snowman wreath is currently hanging.

I just wasn't pleased with this normally-empty space. And like I said I struggled with what to put there. I knew a picture frame was out of the question - it would be hard to see the pictures. I didn't like the idea of a canvas because I would feel like it would give it too much texture or depth to that space to make it look a little oddball. But I found this on pinterest, along with about a million other places, and played with it in my head for awhile.

I liked the quote, but didn't like the idea of a canvas or board so vinyl was the way to go. And guess who has a Silhouette and can make her own vinyls? Yes, that's me.

So I sat down and started working on fonts and sizing. I also made an adjustment in the saying. Instead of "Please excuse the mess, the children are making memories." I changed it to: "Please excuse the mess, we are making memories." Addie isn't the only one around here making memories, and she's certainly not the only one making messes along she is the main contributor.

However, I struggle with the spacial visual aspects of projects sometimes. I didn't want to get it all printed and put on the wall then realize it's too small or that it's too big or the font sucks. So I decided to print it out on card stock before using up my precious vinyl.

Of course looking back, I should have used black card stock because the purple looked pretty silly on the wall, but it did its job. I got up on my chair and started taping up the letters, which took a really long time by the way, so I could place it where I wanted and make sure the letters were in the right places and the right size.

Of course after just randomly put it up by eyeing it, it was all over the place. And again my weaknesses were coming out in being unable to figure out spacing and measuring. Something that Rob just so happens to be good at. And he was nice enough to take a break from his video games (all done during nap time) to help me out.

He measured, used chalk to mark the walls and easily erase again. Then helped me line the letters back up so that when I put the vinyl on, I could just remove the purple letter and replace it with a black one. That helped to make sure it was all in a straight line - or straighter than if I went with it my way. Before long, he had it all measured and lined out.

Much better than my first attempt, which was really much more of a "get the letters on the wall" kind of thing. It looks a little silly now because I used purple card stock, but you get the gist of what I'm going for.

After this point, I could cut on my vinyl.

I climbed back up on my chair and started replacing letters.

My arms got a little tired, so I took a break or two but it was pretty easy replacing one letter for another. Some of the letters didn't end up perfectly straight or lined up. I just saw it as giving it more personality.

Then before long, it was done. And looking just like I envisioned it.

I will admit that the "please" looks a little odd, but it's fine. I like it. Like I said, it just gives it more personality.

So what do you think?

Better than the snowman who will have to find another home every December?