This year I wanted to come up with a few things to share with all of you and I am SO excited to share this DIY!
A little back story: Mr. Boddington is by far and away one of my favorite stationary brands EVER, I am obsessed with their cheeky designs! Every week or so on their Instagram they have a color naming contest where they give a swatch of color and everyone gets a go at naming it. At the end of the week they pick a winner. I admit that I haven't won yet but I am a faithful participant. I just think it is so much fun!
Not long ago I discovered that they offer a custom print where you can name your own colors and they will send it to you framed. It's a really fun way to represent different things in your life through color. For example, I made one for my parents for Christmas with colors representing Israel to remind them of our time there together.
So a quick disclaimer: this is by no means my original idea but thought this was the cutest idea and I wanted to share an inexpensive way to do it yourself. If you want to check out Mr. Boddington's original version, you can do that here!
For the version I am sharing today I just did different shades of reds and pinks and then gave them names that I thought were romantic yet quirky. I do also love a good pun so at times things get pretty puny too!
If you ever dreamed of being a professional nail polish namer at Essie now is your chance, well sort of!
Things you will need:
1. Watercolor paper.
I used 9 x 12, you will need to trim it down a bit.
2. Watercolor/paintbrushes.
If you wanted to use something other than watercolor you could do that too!
3. Frame.
You will want your frame to be 8 x 10 or 8 x 10 with a matte. I got mine at Walmart for less than 10 dollars.
4. Printer.
If you don't have access to a printer that's totally okay, just use your own handwriting. In the end it might add extra character anyway!
Directions:
Everything is super simple to do. You could start by brainstorming names or colors, which ever is easiest for you. Once you have finalized your color names you will want to type them out in a Word document.
Open up a Word document, go to layout, go to columns. Once you are in columns select "three"
This will ensure you have even spacing throughout. You may have to play around a bit to get everything even vertically but you will get the hang of it. Use any font you wish and then type everything out.
Next you will want to print out your names. You may have to trim down your watercolor paper a bit but no worries, it won't show once it's framed. Another tip would be to make sure that you are printing on the smooth side of the watercolor paper. I know it's a little unconventional to use the back side of the paper but since we are just doing swatches of color it isn't going to affect the quality.
Now you are ready to paint! Get to mixing your colors and then all you have to do is paint a simple circle above the corresponding name that you have come up with. I like to make my swatches a little uneven to keep it interesting but that is totally up to you! For reference, I tried to keep each swatch to around the size of a quarter.
Once everything is dry you can stick it in your frame and now you have the sweetest new art print for your home or to give as a gift. I think these make super great conversation starters too!
Remember to just be creative and just be YOU! You don't have to stick to pinks and reds. Maybe you went on a trip to Hawaii with your significant other. Think of all the colors that inspired you while you were there. Or maybe you have kids, what colors remind you of their personalities? I also made one for my mother-in-law. She is a breast cancer survivor so I did different shades of pink and then gave them names like "cancer mauve over" and "I beet cancer."
This is totally customizable and the possibilities are endless.
Have fun!
No comments