The small town Colorado girl who’s obsessed with home and everything that entails! I’m a creative, a decorator, a day dreamer, a huge fan of scones, and I’m passionate about loving where I live and making a home.
I'm Shayna
See how I created artwork for our breakfast nook frames by learning how to write on burlap.
This weekend I was able to finish a project I’ve had on my “to do” list for a long time.
In the past, I’ve struggled with the best way to write on burlap. I’ve tried tracing with a pencil and guesstimating, but neither produced the type of results that I was wanting.
Finally, I figured out a way that works for me and I’m thrilled with the results!
First, I picked my frame and mat, then grabbed a piece of cardboard and cut it to fit the outside of the mat. From there I used a tape measure and found the middle of the mat opening and marked the spot.
I grabbed my stencil and quickly measured the length of my word. Leaving the mat in place, I used my mark to even space the word on the cardboard. Then I started tracing with a pencil.
Once I had the entire word traced, I used a sharpie to fill in the letters.
Knowing that the burlap had large gaps, I knew that I could lay it over the word and see through. I lined up the burlap on the mat, making sure that I had enough overhang on each side to secure it to the mat.
With the burlap lined up, I grabbed my sharpie and started tracing the letters.
Pictures make it a tad hard to see, but I could clearly see the outline of the word below the fabric. It was very easy to trace.
Once it was done, I flipped the mat over, front side down, and used the word to correctly center the burlap on the mat. I secure it in place with hot glue, making sure to pull the sides tight as I glued them.
With all the words finished, I popped each of the mats into their frames. Easy, Easy!
In the past I had tried to use a pencil and stencil to trace onto the burlap. For one, the pencil hardly left any marks on the burlap making it hard to fill in the words. Two, I never knew if my word would be centered because I was guestimating the spacing between each letter. The cardboard made it easy to erase if I made an error or if I needed a larger space between each letter.
As a side note, I’ve seen that you can print on burlap but my printer is a tad finicky and probably wouldn’t do it. Sigh.
This was such an easy way for me to accurately trace onto burlap! Success!
“Enjoy This Life”. It’s important to remember.
Words cannot explain how utterly smitten I am with these frames, or how they look with our plank wall…
They are the perfect addition to our breakfast nook and I love the saying.
Sometimes in life we get caught up in our own problems and start to stress. “Enjoy This Life” makes it easy for me to remember to step back and enjoy!
Enjoy. This. Life.
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Join me as I share several easy to implement ideas that will give your home a breath of fresh air and leave you feeling excited about the changes you see by the end of the week!
I love how that turned out and what a great way to do it! I’m definitely going to have to try this!
Tania
THANK YOU Tania! It’s very simple! 🙂
-Shayna
I love working with burlap & this is a great idea! it turned out beautiful! & you only used a Sharpie! 🙂
Thanks Ingrid! I love burlap too- and this was beyond easy! 🙂
-Shayna
Oh My, this is adorable!! I love love love this! I will definitely be trying this soon! Great great idea!
THANK YOU Katara! I’m so happy you like them! It’s very easy to do! 🙂
-Shayna
This is lovely, Shayna. I’ve been looking for ways to print/write on burlap and I’m pretty sure my inkjet will choke on the stuff too. I intend to make a pair of “his” and “hers” wall plaques with a couple of towel/robe hooks beneath and this seems like the simplest way to do it. Thanks for a clear and genuine effort!
THANK YOU so much, Mimi! I think your idea is fabulous- Have fun! 😀
-Shayna
These look so good! The saying is perfect. Where did you find the frames? I love the size and the “matteness” of the black.
THANK YOU so much! I bought the frames from Walmart, super cheap, and then painted them with matte black! Love them! 😀
Thanks for sharing. Just what I was looking for.
Great idea! Is the sharpie rub a dub a special that works on the rough burlap? Thanks