DIY Dog Silhouette Art (and our family dog)

 

Yesterday was a really special day. Our sweet family dog Bella (aka Mrs. Bean) turned 10 years old!

It’s hard to believe our “first born” (ahem) is ten years old. We got Bella when she was about a year old and she has enriched our lives so much over the years. BK (before kids), she was truly the third member of our family. She went everywhere we went! She is great on road trips, a loyal companion, and such a sweet and chill girl to have as an addition to our family.

Of course, when I got the news of another little mister in the house, Bella’s rankings went up even higher in my book- she is my forever gal-pal! Us girls have to stick together, you know?

What has been most amazing though is seeing her become a big “sister” to Mr. Big Stuff. He rides on her, lays all over her, chases her, and of course he MUST give her a kiss each night before bed. He absolutely adores her, and she is so wonderful (and tolerant!!) with him.

When it came time to choose artwork for the big boy room, I just knew we needed a portrait of the pup.
Of course, I am using the term “portrait” very light here!

I remembered that I had these two blank 24 x 36 canvases that had been sitting in our basement for years. Who knows why I purchased them years ago, but there they sat. (Hi, I’m Heather, and I’m a craft hoarder and super guilty of starting projects and never finishing them.) Every few months I would come across them and think to myself- “Self, you really should do something with these.”

Then the idea smacked me in the face. I should use a canvas to make lab silhouette art for the big boy room. After pondering on this for a couple days, another idea smacked me in the face. Why not use BOTH of them to make some spunky art for above the bed!?!
OK, Canvases. Check.

Next up, what colors to use? Should I go funky yellow, standard chocolate brown? But ultimately my laziness smartness won and I decided to use the gray and green paint I recently used on the furniture.
Paint. Check.

Now, how does one obtain a 24 x 36 dog outline? I remembered this great website called www.blockposters.com. It’s where you can upload any JPEG and it will blow up an image into whatever size you need to print on normal 8.5 x 11 paper. So, I found a random dog image online and used this site to get my stencil. (The resolution was awful, but it didn’t matter for what I was using it for)
Dog Stencil. Check.

With supplies in hand, I gave each canvas a coat of gray paint. The next day, I penciled the dog silhouette onto the canvas and then hand-painted the image green. I think this part took maybe 30 minutes? It was actually much easier than I thought it would be.
 
Naptime Project Completion. Check.
Now we have custom art of our favorite 4 legged friend. And it cost me NOTHING! Fast, free and furry! 🙂 Can’t wait to hang it up in the Big Boy Room!

Happy 10th Birthday Bella Bean! Thanks for being such an awesome addition to our family!

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