I like to consider our hallway frame wall a constant “work in progress” since the art in the frames can be swapped out at anytime. But there was at least one element that was less a “work in progress” and more an “um, you’re not going to leave it that way, are you?” Can you spot it?
Yep, it’s the placeholder photostrip in the center. We didn’t have a frame to fit that slot at the time, so we figured down the line we’d cut a piece of wood, paint it white and mount the strip on something more officially looking than, well, a piece of office paper held up with painter’s tape (oh the tricks of the trade!).
So we bought a piece of craft wood at Lowe’s for a couple of bucks and marked the cut spot using the soon-to-be-trashed paper “frame” as a template.
Then down to my workshop I went to give it a quick slice with the miter saw. Zzzzzzrripppf! (That’s the sound my saw makes, if you couldn’t tell.)
It was about this time that a random idea popped into my head. Staring at this tiny piece of wood gave me a flashback to an episode of Secrets of a Stylist that we watched where Emily had made this cool table by using some floral wall decals (she stuck them on, painted the table white, and removed the decals for a cool stenciled effect). And thus, an idea was born:
Since I had neither flower decals nor a desire to put florals on my plank of wood, I decided to DIY a more meaningful stencil using a similar method. So tracked down an ornate number seven online (since we started dating on 7/7/05 and our wedding day was 7/7/07 – plus I’ve always thought sevens are kinda cool looking) and stretched it in Photoshop to be the right size (long and skinny). Here it is printed out on cardstock in a basic please-don’t-use-too-much-ink gray.
To create my makeshift stencil I broke out the painter’s tape again (see, it’s not only good for holding up temporary paper frames in the hallway) and covered my piece of wood – being sure to stick it down tightly everywhere (I rubbed it all pretty hard with the pads of my fingers).
Then I taped my printed seven loosely on top and began using an exacto knife to cut out the shape of the number. I pressed down pretty hard to be sure that I was slicing through the cardstock and the painter’s tape underneath. It cut into the wood slightly too, but I figured that would only help to keep the border even crisper in the end.
Once done, off came my paper guide…
…followed carefully by the painter’s tape (remember, I want the seven to show the wood grain so that’s why I’m removing the tape around it).
I took a moment to press down the remaining green tape again, especially around the edges. Just because I didn’t want any paint that I would apply to bleed under and mess with the crispness of the finished numeral.
Next came two coats of white paint (I used leftover Olympic semi-gloss that we keep handy for trim touch-ups).
Before the second coat dried, I slowly peeled up my stencil to reveal the wood below that was spared the white-paint treatment (removing tape when the paint is still wet usually results in a crisper line).
Once all of the green tape was taken off and it dried for a few more hours, I added a spare sawtooth hanger (like this) on the back and hung it up on the frame wall.
We lurv it. As much as we like photostrips, we’re both glad we did this instead (especially since there’s already a frame of photostrips right next to it). Plus, you know we love meaningful slash personal stuff that’s homemade (so a subtle reminder of our anniversary crafted by yours truly is sweet to suckers like us). Oh and when it comes down to cost, everything was free/already on hand except for the piece of wood (which we got for under $2 at Lowe’s).
My only wish is that (had I know I was going to do this project from the start) we would have bought a piece of wood with a bit more interesting grain going on. Oh well. There’s always next time (or we can wax or stain or outline it to tweak it someday). For now we like the soft wood tone since it ties into a few other objects on the wall – like a tan map with pins where we’ve gone and a backwards canvas that we hung so the wood frame faces out (both of them are the same blonde wood tone as the seven, although unfortunately not pictured in this post- oops). Have you guys used tape as a stencil to do something like our little wood art project? Or for glass etching (like we did here)? Or for something else entirely? And what about numbers. Do you have a lucky one? In our house we like 43 (the number of digits in “love you”), 14 (Clara’s b-day), and 7 (our anniversary of dating/being married) the most.
Psst- Find more on our big hallway wall of frames here, here and here.
carolinaheartstrings says
Wow do I love the idea. Endless possibilities. That wall just looks fantastic. Worthy of a magazine cover I would say!
Christin says
I love this! Can’t wait to do this myself!
Angella says
My lucky number is 13. Born on a Friday the 13th. :) And my son’s name is Seven. So of course that’s a lucky number!
Carrie of DreamGreenDIY says
How cool! Love this idea and how it turned out! Oh and I ADORE Emily Henderson. Don’t you just love how blunt and “real” she is? In fact…I too posted about my love for her this week http://ow.ly/58KTv – She’s awesome. As are you guys ;-D
YoungHouseLove says
Totally. She’s the best.
xo,
s
Brooke says
“In our house we like 43 (the number of digits in “love you”), 14 (Clara’s b-day), and 7 (our anniversary of dating/being married) the most.”
That just boils down to 7 again! 4+3 is 7, and 14 is just two 7s!
lynn says
and – the 4 and 3 add up to 7 – and your anniversary 7 add up to 14 – Clara’s birthdate. Ok. that’s maybe going too far, right?
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so crazy! Love it.
xo,
s
Aimee says
Yup – this idea will be on my wall. So cool!
Holly@Country Girl says
LOVE IT!!! It just grabs your eye when you look at the wall. Great idea…it’s perfect.
Darleen Wright says
Just noticed your parquet flooring, as you were making your “7” project.. and have you stained it? and if you did how did you accomplish the look. We have a similiar floor but it could use an update. Thank you. Darleen
YoungHouseLove says
Nope haven’t stained it but we plan to refinish all of our floors someday. Of course we’ll share every last detail when we do!
xo,
s
Blair says
I love that idea! My only suggestion would be to stain it darker before you painted it white. I love that wall so much with all your different elements. Sadly, I have a love of symmetry that far surpasses anything, as evident by my own picture framing attempts like this http://thefirstapartment.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-hang-set-of-frames.html however the wood grain is something I may have to try in the future!
~Blair
Kate says
Love it! The white with the wood grain looks so great. I may have to file this idea away for my own house!
Jenni G says
Awww, Clara (14) equals 2 “love you”s. Sweet.
Krysta @ Domestic for Dummies says
Such a cute idea! What is the story behind the bottle cap above the 7?
YoungHouseLove says
We found that in the dirt at our first house (it’s a vintage milk cap from when they used to deliver bottles door to door).
xo,
s
Donna Huebsch says
Very cute project – I like all the how-to details.
Your one photo of the miter saw reminds me of our latest trip to Home Depot – although we already have a miter saw, hubby was lusting after a new one…apparently it needs to be a SLIDING miter saw with a LASER…fancy schmancy :)
Becca says
Love it!!
I sent you guys pictures of this awhile back, but I turned my surfboard into a work of art by covering it with masking tape, cutting the tape to a design, and painting it my living room theme colors. It’s been hanging up on my wall since the winter time and is definitely the biggest eye-catcher/conversation piece in my apartment! It means alot to me because I had many adventures on that board when I lived in Florida and Hawaii… I’m glad I was able to keep it around for the long haul :)
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds like so much fun.
xo,
s
Samantha says
Love this idea! So sweet.
Julia @ Chris loves Julia says
That is a simple and amazing project I will absolutely have to remember. I did a painting with our last name and anniversary 11/8/08–but I just left out the second 8–and it found a cozy spot in a vignette I put together this morning.
http://chrislovesjulia.blogspot.com/2011/06/above-couch-vignette.html
But I might just have to make some more room on that shelf for something like this. Right with you on the lurv train.
Chris Loves Julia
YoungHouseLove says
That looks great! What a cozy room.
xo,
s
Fun Mama says
Did you know Mr. Rogers, always maintained his body weight at 143 lbs, because it represented “I Love You”?
YoungHouseLove says
Coolest thing I’ve ever heard.
xo,
s
hilary says
no way! mr. rogers knows pager code!??!
YoungHouseLove says
I know right? It brings me back to the beeper days.
xo,
s
Amanda Freeman says
This is such an easy, cute idea! I think I need to steal this idea to nail next to my front door- I think this would be way cuter and funkier for our house # 337 than standard numbers you buy from lowes! Thanks :)
Paulina J! says
I love your wall! And this is a nice addition to it! Have you thought of maybe using a wax or something else to darken the wood a little and show of more of the grain?
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah we’re sure we might end up tweaking it someday (and will share the details of course)! One nice thing about the soft wood tone is that it ties into other art on the wall (a map collage and a canvas hung backwards so you see the frame around it – both of which are that light wood color).
xo,
s
Jen @ The Decor Scene says
Love this awesome project! I would love to do this somewhere in my home. hmmmmmmm where to put it and what letter or number would I want?!?! You have my mind thinking now. Thanks! And I LOVE that awesome table by Emily. What an awesome idea! I might have to keep that in mind for my two end tables in our living room that I have been wanting to paint a different color.
Robin @ our semi organic life says
Love this! I agree, something with a bit more texture or design that pops would be awesome. My fav # is 48. No clue why, it just feels right.
adria says
oh lynn, i took a step further to discover that 14/2 = 7…obviously the “2” being sherry & john. Bam!
Laura says
I spy John’s reenactment of your beloved dog statue breaking framed on the wall. I think that’s a proper memorial.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it was too funny not to frame.
xo,
s
Melanie says
Love the idea. I just wish there were more contrast (like if the wood part were stained nice and chocolatey. :) I also like that it’s a nice little touch of strong typography on the wall.
Jacole says
Interesting idea…I couldn’t help but notice the “handwritten” letter that is beside the newly placed 7. Is that something you wrote to each other or is a cool find?
YoungHouseLove says
That was a sweet housewarming gift from the handyman that we hired to complete some inspection items on our house (the new buyers wouldn’t let us do them, haha). He was so nice! He’s a calligrapher and wrote a poem for us (called Desiderata I think). If you google it I bet it’ll come up.
xo,
s
Jacole says
“With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.”
How lovely. A handyman that gives poems and does calligraphy? Sounds like the perfect guy! Ha! Thanks :)
YoungHouseLove says
I know, we were amazed. Such a great guy.
xo,
s
Angie @ The Country Chic Cottage says
Love this!! :) I have painted a “5” on barnwood before (there are 5 of us).
And seeing this wall so reminded me. I framed my arrowheads!! :) Thanks for the inspiration!
http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/2011/05/diy-framed-arrowheads-shadowbox.html
YoungHouseLove says
They came out awesome! Wasn’t it simple? I was so glad I saved ours and did that (my mom called me a pack rat and told me to toss them, haha).
xo,
s
ashley says
We like 28. The day of our first date, the day of our wedding, and the day our baby was born.
Mandy Ford says
Very cute! I did a similar project for my boys’ rooms to make initial plaques. I used contact paper instead of tape as the mask, and the wood plaques were from Hobby Lobby. I also outlined the letter with a sharpie to give it more of a contrast. Here is the link if you want to check it out. :)
http://mandyford.blogspot.com/2011/04/lemon-art.html
Mandy @ This Girl’s Life
Rebekka says
i love this! and i also love the bottle cap above it! is that mounted on a tiny canvas? do you get these at michael’s? did you just stick it on with regular ol’ glue/hot glue?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup it’s a small canvas from JoAnn and I used Aileen’s craft glue.
xo,
s
LARY says
Your art piece came out great! Love the fact that you brought up “Secrets of a Stylist”, I make my boyfriend watch it with me all the time. haha In our house 7 is one of our numbers too (is my boyfriend’s and our puppy’s b-day)
pendy says
Had to comment…
My birthday is 7/7/52 (yes, I’m old) but cool because the last two digits of my birth year also add up to seven.
Also, I was twenty-five (2+5=7) on 7/7/77.
Seems like there was another one (maybe I’m too old to remember it – ha!).
Erin says
I LOVE this!!! My husband and I are both from California (where we live now) but I hope to move for a PhD program in the next couple years. I want to make my own California art for our new place, but I’m not artistic, so I wasn’t sure how to go about it. But I can print from the internet and use an exacto knife!! Thank you for the idea; I can’t wait to (move, and then) try it!
Lori @ Richmond, BABY! says
How neat! Looks fabulous up there!
Nancy says
I’m new to your website. I’ve gotten so many great ideas already. Love your post from today. Any way to make inexpensive artwork is what I’m looking for.
Sadly for me, though, I am obsessed with your dining room table. Endless searching for a 70″ round table like yours resulted in a big fat goose egg. Well not really nothing, but nothing I can afford. Guess I will keep scouring the internet and thrift stores. If you have any leads…
Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says
What a great idea! This is so creative!
I just made an engagement shadow box (that I found from Polka Dot Bride). If you guys have any other mementos that you need to hang, this is a fun idea too!
Laura Reyes says
I love the wall color and i love the frames!! beautiful!! what is the color that you put on your wall calleD? and from what brand?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s Moonshine by Benjamin Moore (color matched to Olympic No-VOC paint). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
karen says
love it!
Lisa in Seattle says
Cute! Such a great focal point. Obligatory unsolicited advice: With a hand as steady as yours, you could probably re-do the stencil in the opposite way and cover the white, expose the wood, and stain the seven whatever you wanted.
My unlucky number is 8, and August is always an awful month, and October isn’t too hot either, and of course I got married on 8/8/88 and you can guess how well that worked out.
Nette @ This Dusty House says
It’s a cool idea, but I find the seven blends in a little too much. I think I would have done a black border around the number or painted the seven itself black in order to give it a little more pop against all the white frames. But, it’s a wonderful idea! You guys are so creative!
Kat says
8 has always been an important number in my life. I was married on 8-8-88. (Gawd – that’s a long time ago!). My son weighed 8 lbs. 8 oz. when born. I was married for 8 years and 8 days. It just seems to pop up in everyday life too.
Kristen says
Ours has always been “10”. My husband and I met on March 10th, our wedding date was 10-10, our son was born on January 10th, our daughter in October (10th month), she came home from the hospital on 10-10, and our children are 10 months apart during the year (Jan-Oct, they’re 5 years apart agewise)!
I love the stencil idea! Looks great!!!
Lani says
That’s a seriously great idea!! I love it, and shall use it as inspiration in my house!!
Leah says
“My only wish is that (had I know I was going to do this project from the start) we would have bought a piece of wood with a bit more interesting grain going on.”
Maybe you could get some stain or glaze and rub it on to pick up some of the grain and give the white paint a cool, distressed/aged look…. just an idea! ; )
Lindsay L. says
We love the number 22! The day we started dating, the day we got engaged and oh dang, if only it had fallen on a Saturday we would have gotten married on the 22nd. It’s funny how numbers can be so sentimental. We love it, can’t wait to do this!
SimplySarah says
I used all my favorite numbers (my wedding date, my birthday, and my hubs birthday) in a painting I did…and I think it rivals the Pottery Barn Numbers Canvas.
Check it out HERE> http://imsimplysarah.blogspot.com/2010/12/pottery-barn-inspired-our-numbers.html
I even include a tutorial for anyone trying to make their own.
YoungHouseLove says
Unbelievably fantastic! Love it.
xo,
s
Allison says
I love this idea!!
My favorite number is 38, followed closely by 7, but for silly reasons.
My parents’ number is 45. My dad was born 4/44 and my mom was born 5/55. The street number on both their childhood homes was 45. My brother and I were given social security numbers that include 45. Throughout their marriage, the appearance of 4s and 5s helped my mom make up her mind on the most random things like which vacation house to rent or Christmas tree to buy. And morbidly, when my dad passed away my mom wanted him buried on a hillside beneath a tree and the cemetery director said the only plot like that available was 154. She took it on the spot. Numbers can be so weird.
Karrie says
Ha, I just pinned this! I really love this idea and I think I’m going to have to do a photo wall, too. I fall a little more in love with yours each time you post about it. Plus I love the idea of giving friends and family something to peruse while they’re over at our house.
Anne says
what’d you use to attach the sawtooth hanger? i’ve used gorilla glue in the past…never had the courage to fit the world’s tiniest nails into those little holes!
YoungHouseLove says
We just hammered those little nails in to hold it. Annoying but it worked.
xo,
s
Jess says
I think you should start calling it the “hall of frame.” After all, it captures all of your most precious, important, and award-winning moments!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I love it!
xo,
s