Dated Design Wall Art
Posted 30th March, 2011 in by Andrea
I've been working on a gallery of framed photos and art for a wall in my kitchen and really want it to include meaningful pieces - not just any old photo or picture. In my quest to make it meaningful, I decided to create a subway art style piece using important dates in our family, specifically each of our birthdays and our wedding anniversary.
** Update: Due to the popularity of this project (over 100,000 pins on Pinterest!) I've created a way to build your own dated wall art instantly using the form below. Just enter your special dates and then you can print a customized 8" x 10" version from home OR have it professionally printed in a variety of sizes at Zazzle.com as a poster or canvas (which are awesome—read my review on zazzle canvases). If you'd rather do-it-yourself, the original by-hand instructions are below the form.
To create this piece, I started with an idea sketch in Photoshop. I knew I wanted it to be an 8" x 10" piece to fit in my frame, so I created a Photoshop canvas in that size. Then I played around with font styles and font sizes until I ended up with this design, using the font "Modern No. 20":
If you're into digital designs and know your way around Photoshop, this is the perfect place to say: Skip the rest of these by-hand steps and create a printable! Print it yourself, or send it in to your favorite poster printing service and you've created your very own piece of personalized modern art. Nice, huh?
If you're still with me, you must be more of a hands-on kind of girl. Me too. I decided instead of making a printable to give my Silhouette SD a little workout and had each number cut separately from black cardstock.
Then I cut the center date (our anniversary) from white cardstock and finally the flourish designs from kraft cardstock. I chose a muted teal patterned paper background and laid out the design.
Using a ruler and pencil, I drew very faint guidelines to find the center of the paper (both vertically and horizontally) and began adding the numbers, beginning with the "08052000" row and working out from there.
Tip: I used cardstock and a Xyron sticker maker, but another option would be to use Silhouette adhesive vinyl and transfer paper to make this whole process a breeze.
With all the elements glued down, I added a tiny red heart eyelet to the center of the anniversary date to finish it off.
Now it hangs in my kitchen gallery (which I promise to reveal here soon), and even my husband, who is a tough sell when it comes to crafty things, remarked that it was "a really cool design." Perhaps I should have saved it for Father's Day!
A fully customizeable version of my Dated Wall Art plus several variations of the design are all available through Zazzle.com if you'd like to order there! Customize it to choose your own colors, dates, print-size and font. You can even add a frame (as shown below)!
Available for families with 1 child, 2 children, 3 children, 4 children & 6 children!
62 comments so far:
Jeannine parry (not verified) says: Thanks
Thanks
Amy (not verified) says: I was needing one with 7
I was needing one with 7 children.... Can you do that??
Amanda (not verified) says: Great project! And congrats
Great project! And congrats on it going viral on Pinterest. Thanks for sharing at I Made It! Monday. Can't wait to see what you link up this week.
Roeshel (not verified) says: I love it, Andrea!
I love it, Andrea!
Sue, It's A Very Cherry World! (not verified) says: Great idea and great
Great idea and great graphics! It's wonderful that it's so popular!
Brittany @ Crafty Mischief (not verified) says: What a great idea! Love it!
What a great idea! Love it!
Joselyn (not verified) says: Love this idea! Beautiful and
Love this idea! Beautiful and sentimental. Buy or DIY option is great too.
Jenn (not verified) says: What a great tutorial! Can't
What a great tutorial! Can't wait to try =)
Printabelle (not verified) says: This is such an appealing
This is such an appealing idea and that is so awesome that you got so many pins! Congrats!
Kathryn Griffin (not verified) says: What a fantastic idea! Thank
What a fantastic idea! Thank you for sharing this at my Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Hope to see your prettiness again on Monday. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Tamara @ Etcetorize (not verified) says: Very neat idea! Love that
Very neat idea! Love that you created a 'do it yourself calculator'! Thanks so much for sharing at Etcetorize this week!
Megan (not verified) says: That is beautiful!
That is beautiful!
Erin {Home Everyday} (not verified) says: Super cute! This would be
Super cute! This would be perfect in our home too! Thanks for sharing.
Sarah Beesley (not verified) says: Thank you so much for the
Thank you so much for the inspiration for this! I recently updated my gallery wall in our home and I recreated this idea using Microsoft Word and cardstock. It's fairly simple but I love the statement such a simple piece makes. Thanks again for sharing your idea!!
http://idbeesley.blogspot.com/2012/09/gallery-wall.html (post with your idea shown, if you're interested :) )
Jami Dix (not verified) says: Very cool you will let us
Very cool you will let us create our own. Thanks so much!!
Barb (not verified) says: I love that you said...Hey,
I love that you said...Hey, you can order it here, but if you are all about doing it yourself, here is what I did!! That is AWESOME!!
Thanks so much for sharing!!
Also, ya'll have a great day to have gotten married! It's my anniversary too, ENJOY!!
Sara (not verified) says: Thanks
Thanks
Meri (not verified) says: Love this idea! I may adapt
Love this idea! I may adapt it for my own family (single mom, two kiddie-beans). :)
Thank you!
McNeely (not verified) says: Love it!
Love it!
Anonymous (not verified) says: Thanks so much!!!
Thanks so much!!!
Nicole (not verified) says: I love this project Andrea -
I love this project Andrea - it was one of my first pins on Pinterest! Finally made one of my own today and linked back to you as my inspiration. Thanks for sharing such an awesome idea! Here is my blog post : http://reavespartyofthree.blogspot.com/2012/02/pinterest-to-reality-proj...
Michelle (not verified) says: So it turned out COMPLETELY
So it turned out COMPLETELY different, but I just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration! I saw this on Pinterest, and adapted it to make a family tree for my mom announcing her first grandchild! I stared with her parents' birthdays and worked my way down to our little one's due date. Thanks!!
shen (not verified) says: I loved this idea, and did
I loved this idea, and did it myself. I hope you don't mind I mentioned you in my own blog entry.
http://girlyspazms.blogspot.com/2011/11/doing-things-differently.html
Thanks for the inspiration! :D
Lauren (not verified) says: This is so cool. I am going
This is so cool. I am going to make this for my daughter and son-in-law's first anniversary present. It's paper!
Sharon Worley (not verified) says: LOVE this project! Thank
LOVE this project! Thank you so much for the inspiration - I've had it bookmarked for a while in hopes of making one of my own. Finally got to it today and can't stop looking at it.
Also love your blog - thanks for sharing it with us!
Morgan (not verified) says: Hey, I would like to give
Hey,
I would like to give this as a gift to my in laws for Xmas. I checked on zazzle to buy but they have six children. Any suggestions? Great product!
Thanks!
Leslie (not verified) says: I was on there today and
I was on there today and they had one for a family with 2,3,4,5 & 6 kids. Type in Family Date Poster in the zazzle search engine and it will bring up all of the options they have. Good Luck!!
Nicole King (not verified) says: I Love LOVE this idea!!! And
I Love LOVE this idea!!! And I actually followed through with making one for myself. Thanks for the clear directions. Rather than cutting out with my cricut I printed straight onto the paper. I am sure cutting would have looked better since I couldn't print white on my paper.
http://thekingsoftheroad.blogspot.com/2011/09/4-ws-and-1-l.html
Heather (not verified) says: I saw this idea on pinterest
I saw this idea on pinterest and decided to do one for our family tonight. I love that my hubby couldn't figure out all the numbers, but my 11yr old knew exactly what it was. Thanks for sharing your idea. Here's how mine turned out.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2397818182298&set=a.209978269159...
Heather (not verified) says: I saw this idea on pinterest
I saw this idea on pinterest and decided to do one for our family tonight. I love that my hubby couldn't figure out all the numbers, but my 11yr old knew exactly what it was. Thanks for sharing your idea. Here's how mine turned out.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2397818182298&set=a.209978269159...
Sarah Petrie (not verified) says: LOVE THIS! I saw it on
LOVE THIS! I saw it on Pinterest, and now I've made one of my own (printable) that I'm blogging about today. :) Thanks for the inspiration ~ I'll let everyone know where you are! :)
Jennifer (not verified) says: THANK YOU for this idea! I
THANK YOU for this idea! I LOVE graphics, and this is so meaningful. I made this for my family tonight, and it's framed and brightening up our living room. I mocked it up in PS and used the Silhouette, too *LOVE*. The only I altered was the placement...I printed out the PS copy on plain old copy paper, paper clipped it to my scrapbook paper background, and slapped it on a light box. Then I just glued on the letters. Easy peasy pie!
Thank you again! This was a fun project. :)
Katie H (not verified) says: Love this idea! Quick
Love this idea! Quick question, what did you use to cut out the numbers?
Heather (not verified) says: Thanks for the
Thanks for the inspiration!
Here is what I did with your idea: http://lovethatboy.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/i-heart-pinterest/
Babz510 (not verified) says: Hi there, Someone posted a
Hi there,
Someone posted a link of your project on Pinterest and I loved it. I made one for myself yesterday and I just wanted to say thanks for the great idea. Mine is now proudly on display in my entryway for my firends and family to see.
Sharla (not verified) says: Love this idea, design
Love this idea, design EVERYTHING!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Creative Jobs (not verified) says: I really like this idea. I
I really like this idea. I am looking forward to doing it with my kids and other family members. You can
very easily do it if you are creative. Your art can be done conveniently. It will prove to be very facilitating for you.
Anonymous (not verified) says: One of my boys has one of
One of my boys has one of your babies' birthdays! 4/12/07
Angela K (not verified) says: Thanks for a wonderful
Thanks for a wonderful idea!!! So sweet!
Nichole (not verified) says: What a wonderful idea! I'm
What a wonderful idea! I'm going to work on mine right now. :)
beth daane (not verified) says: This is fabulous and I love
This is fabulous and I love it! Thank you so much for sharing your creativity with us!
Carole (not verified) says: I'm a big fan so I have to
I'm a big fan so I have to admit that this was such a wonderful idea that I stole it and made one for my home. I changed it because I have 5 kids and that made for a bunch of birthdays so I just skipped our anniversary date. Thank you for the beautiful idea! It looks great in my foyer!!
Kari johnson (not verified) says: Love, love, love this
Love, love, love this idea...I will be making it soon. Looks like a great naptime project!!
Felis (not verified) says: This is such a great
This is such a great project. Love it!!
Maggie M (not verified) says: I adore this idea...it's
I adore this idea...it's just beautiful! And really understated...I love how you kind of have to look at it a little to really understand what it's about...just perfect.
Amanda @ Serenity Now (not verified) says: I agree with your
I agree with your husband---very cool design. :) It looks nice with the neat little embellishments you added.
Thank you so much for joining my "I {Heart} My Crafty Cutter" party. :)
retrohipmama (not verified) says: This is about the cutest
This is about the cutest thing I've seen! I am going to be doing this tonight! Thank you so much for bringing attention to the important dates in our lives while making it graphically appealing. LOVE LOVE LOVE!
Trailer Gypsy (not verified) says: That is so super cool and
That is so super cool and awesome. I don't have enough people in our household though. Would I be super lame if I added cat birthdays? (The answer is YES, yes I would be). :)
leah @ modern day gidget (not verified) says: dropping in from WILW!!
dropping in from WILW!! Can't wait to try this myself :o)
Aimee (not verified) says: This is beautiful; thanks so
This is beautiful; thanks so much for the inspiration! I already have it started in Photoshop. :)
(Found it via Pinterest, by the way...)
Jen (not verified) says: This is so great! I am
This is so great! I am trying to think of a place that I could do this in my house! I would love to have you come and share this at my Fantastic Friday link party. http://ironvioletdesigns.blogspot.com
Thanks
Amy @ Sweet Little Smoothie (not verified) says: Absolutely gorgeous! I love
Absolutely gorgeous! I love your font choice! Thanks for sharing :)
Randi (not verified) says: I think that's such a neat
I think that's such a neat idea ... it's so personal. And I love your little eyelet heart.
Website Designing India (not verified) says: Great piece of art it seems
Great piece of art it seems that we can design any thing and make it look beautiful. Just the required thing in creative mind and thoughts.
Joy (not verified) says: Very cute!
Very cute!
Heather (not verified) says: Um, yep I pretty much LOVE
Um, yep I pretty much LOVE this!! I will be ordering one I just need to think about my colors with the kitchen remodel. But this is so beyond clever and awesome. Good job Andrea! We will definitely share this one with our readers...;)
Heather
tammy (not verified) says: this is very cool, thanks
this is very cool, thanks for sharing it at my party!
Christy, HOMEmomMADE (not verified) says: this is super cute, hubby
this is super cute, hubby walked by and said it's cool as long as you don't use dates for passwords. oops
Stop by and feel free to link up to my MAKE & SHARE first edition Fridays.
~Christy
Anne (not verified) says: I love this! I don't have a
I love this! I don't have a silhouette and my printer stinks, but maybe i can get a similar effect with chipboard letters and scrapbook paper? :o)
Linh C (not verified) says: This is awesome! Can I copy
This is awesome! Can I copy the design?
lindasteed says: Very nice, Andrea! Looks
Very nice, Andrea! Looks great!
angela grace (not verified) says: I LOVE this! Are you going
I LOVE this! Are you going to be selling them??
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