I am totally addicted to Pinterest and unlike some Pinterest fans, I actually try out many of the ideas I pin. Well, “many” might be a bit of exaggeration.  I currently have 1,213 pins and have tried maybe two-dozen recipes, 15 or so crafts, and a few miscellaneous things.

Although my daughter looks happy here, only the top of the cake was edible.

Some of my Pinterest efforts were a slam-dunk like a super easy and tasty fried rice recipe and the glow-in-the-dark Easter egg hunt. Others were a total disaster like a rainbow cake in a jar I attempted for my daughters birthday (which looked more like a wet tie dye t-shirt than anything resembling a cake).

Recently, I tried a craft I had wanted to do for a long time. It seemed pretty straightforward and being a crafty kind of gal I thought I could handle it. The craft involves using letter stickers to spell out your favorite song lyric on a blank canvas. You are then supposed to paint over the entire canvas with your favorite color/colors and then peel off the stickers to reveal the white, canvas words beneath. I must have glopped on too much paint because the stickers were hard to remove and the paint had seeped underneath leaving blotchy, messy letters instead of nice crisp ones set against a colorful background.

I was about to add this one to the pile of Pinterest fails when I came across another canvas project. It was then I decided to do a Pinterest “mash-up” and combine two popular projects into one hoping to salvage my sad little song lyrics project.

What I did was add a “button tree” to my canvas using a dark, brown craft paint. I first sketched out the tree in pencil making long, curly branches. I then glued on a variety of plastic buttons on the end of the branches using a hot glue gun. I also went over the messy letters with white craft paint to make them look a little neater. I am not sure Dave Matthews would appreciate his lyrics being used with such a cutesie tree but I am happy with the way it turned out and am going to display it in my guest room where I hope Erica will come and stay in soon!

Supplies used for this Mash Up project:
2 canvases (the size I used can usually be found at Hobby Lobby for 2 for $7.99, brown craft paint, white craft paint, one or two other bottles of craft paint in the color of your choice  for the background color (I actually used a bright shade of pink, adding white and lightening the paint as I moved down the canvas), buttons, a glue gun, glue sticks, a foam paint brush, medium and small sized water color brushes. jar of water (for rinsing out brushes), pencil, paper towels (for messes), and paper plates (for pallets)

This project probably cost me about $20-25. Some of the supplies like the paint brushes and glue gun, I already had on hand. I always make sure I have a Hobby Lobby coupon on my smart phone in case I need to buy a pricey item or something that is not already on sale.

Theresa is a mom and children’s librarian living in northern Indiana. She spends her spare time reading and working on Pinterest projects with her 8 year old daughter.