Monday's craft

So Anna has "school" twice a week, from 8:30 to 2:00 (supposed to be 2:30 but I don't want her to be the last child picked up, so I'm always early). Sometimes, I use that time to run a couple of errands or clean the house without having her make a mess right behind me. But dang, the time goes by super quick! It's gotta be run errands OR clean OR do something crafty because before I know it, it's time to pick her up and she's fresh from a nap and ready to catch up on what she's missed at home.

Ready to go to "school"

So this Monday, I decided to do something crafty. Oh, and me and MJ did finally watch Due Date. Hiii-larious. Good stuff. When did Robert Downey, Jr. get so handsome? Anyway, I don't remember where I saw this idea. I'm sure it was on the web (or maybe in a catalog??) but when I find it again, I'll post credits.

For the hubby:

And my side of the bed:

I really had to zone myself in on this one (during commercial breaks of The Real Housewives of OC). It required a steady hand for the font I chose. If you are interested, here's how I did it:

*I used the lampshades we already had, red acrylic paint and a stiff/short bristled paintbrush.
*Picked out a font I liked printed out the letters I needed (this took a bit of trial and error trying to get the right sizes and proportions for my shade. I used the Garamond font, sizes 400 and 250).
*Taped the letters, one at a time, to the inside of the shade (centered it by eye; didn't measure but you could if you need to).
*I was by my sunny window in the den so I had no trouble seeing the outline of the letter to paint by. You could paint it while it's on the lamp with the lamp on to help with the outline.
*The tricky part, to me, was having the right brush and working the paint into the shade, instead of just brushing it on. My lampshade has the texture of an unglazed canvas and the paint wanted to bleed a little bit. I found I got cleaner lines if I used minimal paint and worked it in (you know, plant the brush down and kinda wiggle it back and forth). I had to go over a few spots to get enough color, but the lines turned out sharper.
*Just keep repeating with each letter!

This little craft took me maybe an hour, from start to finish. And it was free. Not a bad way to spruce up a room, eh?