Last week Ruben and I celebrated our first five years together. An anniversary is always a bit special but for five amazing years I wanted to find a suitable and equally special gift. Gifts for men are hard, I can't imagine ever knowing just what to get him, but you can't go wrong with something you made yourself right? Even the toughest man in the crowd can't deny the romance of a hand made gift .. (or can he?). But then again the question remains: what can you make him? After thinking long and hard I finally had the perfect idea: a huge (couples) bucket list to hang in our bedroom, dated for the next five years. I tried to add both things I like to do and things he likes to do to keep the balance in the list. It's a really easy and fast DIY and bucket lists are fun for many occasions! In fact it's so easy your older kids would really enjoy making these bucket lists to hang on their walls too. Ready? Let's DIY!
Materials needed to make your own bucket list wall art:
- Hangable canvas (you can find them in most hobby stores)
- Pencil
- Large ruler
- Eraser
- Two permanent markers: one for drawing the boxes and filling in black, the other one for writing
(I used 1.5-3mm for both)
- A couple of paint brushes (different sizes)
- Water (tab)
- Spray bottle / glass
- Watercolor (aquarelle) paint
Step by step:
Before you start, be sure to have a rough idea in your head about how you want it to look when you're finished. This idea doesn't need to be perfect, you can adjust while you're working on it since we'll be starting out with pencil. If you want, you can draw a small version on paper first but it's not a must.
1. With the ruler and your pencil, draw lines on the canvas to write on later. Be creative; the lines can be straight but they do not have to be. Also draw outlines of decorative shapes, words, dates, ...
2. When you're completely satisfied with your design, start drawing check boxes with one maker and writing your bucket list with the other marker. Switching markers will help to keep the tip of your writing marker sharp and neat. Optionally you can even write everything in pencil first but I took my chances and just worked slowly. Be sure to have a correctly written list of 'buckets' nearby to avoid making spelling errors. (Found mine yet? Leave it in the comments if you do!)
3. After writing your complete list in permanent marker, fill in any decorative shapes you added. It's best to do this after writing the list. This way you can adjust the sizes of the decorations if needed. (Sometimes words turn out longer than expected so you need the extra space ...).
4. Now that you're all done with permanent marker it's time to erase any left-over pencil marks: lines, shapes, etc. Just gently rub the canvas with your eraser and the pencil will come off.
5. Fill your spray bottle with water and wet your canvas. If you don't have a spray bottle you can use a glass of water and a brush. Wetting your canvas will prepare it to soak up the watercolor paint much better. It also makes it easier to fix possible mistakes.
6. Paint away! You can do a lot of color, more water, shapes, drops, you're the artist! Watercolor on canvas is relatively forgiving: you can always go back in with lots more water and it will soften the colors. Don't you worry about the permanent marker: you can paint right on top of it and it won't come off. If there's color stuck on your marker, "wash" it off with a little water on a clean brush.
Et voilà, all done! Hang your DIY bucket list wall art on your wall and before you know it you'll be reaching for that permanent marker again to tick some of those boxes! I know I am super excited to tick the first box!
love,
MARGOT
