...because home doesn't happen overnight.

I don’t have any daughters.  {We have 2 boys.}  But I have 3 nieces.  {No nephews.}  So, I take advantage of any opportunity to make something sweet and girlie for them…for example, Christmas.  My oldest niece, Lillian, is 7.  She’s a hippie chick and loves anything with flowers or peace signs on it.  I decided to make canvas artwork for her room with a peace sign on it. Here’s how I did it…

I started out with a blank 12″x12″ canvas and scrap fabric.

I drew a peace sign free-hand on some newspaper, cut it out, and laid it on my canvas to check the size.

Then I traced my peace sign pattern onto the wrong side of scrap fabric, making sure to line up the pattern of the fabric the way I wanted it.

I cut out the fabric peace sign and laid it onto the canvas…

…and decided the white canvas was too stark.  So, I found a light gray-green {Benjamin Moore’s Harbor Town} paint sample in the basement and used it to paint the canvas.

I Mod Podged everything several times over, waiting 10-15 minutes between each coat.

And here’s the final product…

I hope Lillian will think it’s groovy.  For my other 2 nieces who are sisters, I decided to make them canvas monograms.  {Can you tell I found a 3-pack of 12″x12″ canvases marked down?}  They just recently started sharing a room together to leave a third bedroom free as a playroom.  I thought personalized monograms would work well in either their shared bedroom or playroom.  Plus, in my experience at least, kids like to see the first letter of their name in familiar rooms.  This is what I came up with…

I painted a striped pattern onto the canvas with the same light gray-green paint I used on Lillian’s canvas.  I bought a wooden “A” for Audrey and a “C” for Caitlyn from JoAnn’s for $2 each on sale and painted them Valspar {Lowe’s} Magic Spell – the same color as my powder room.  Audrey likes animals, so I Mod Podged a bird made from fabric scraps onto her canvas.  {I made sure to Mod Podge the entire canvas – not just the fabric bird – so the entire canvas would have the same sheen.}  I made the little bird appliqué the same way as Lillian’s peace sign by using a pattern drawn on and cut from newspaper.  My trusty hot glue gun adhered the “A” to the canvas.

Caitlyn is an eater.  I joke that she is an emotional eater…she’s happy when she eats.  I Mod Podged a fabric apple onto her canvas.

I tried to keep them fairly neutral so they could work in either their bedroom or playroom.  As you can see, some paint seeped under the taped stripes but, once again, I like a little imperfection.  It’s your first clue that it was, in fact, hand crafted by me.  I hope Audrey and Caitlyn like their monograms!

For me, receiving from someone who spends more time than money on a gift definitely makes me feel extra special.  And while I can’t give all handmade presents {well, I guess I could but I’d need to start today for Christmas 2011!}, I try to sprinkle some in here and there.  {Check out the Valentine’s Day gift I made for Handy Hubby last year.}  What about you?  Making any gifts this year?  What’s your favorite handmade present you’ve been gifted?

images:  all by Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

23 Comments

19.December.2010

how fun! I bet they’ll love them!

the best homemade gifts I’ve ever made were photo quilts (printed photos onto fabric, then made into quilts.) On the receiving side, the best homemade gift (other than ones from the kiddos, which of course are priceless!) were handknit cotton dishtowels from my mom. They are awesome!

20.December.2010

These are all so very cute! Did you use fabric Modge or the standard version? I hear that the fabric modge can be used over the fabric before cutting, left to dry and then it won’t fray when you cut out the shapes. I haven’t been able to find any where I live here in Johannesburg, but I hear that stuff is ten shades of awesome for projects like this!

Also, won’t your niece be offended by a daily reminder that her auntie thinks she is a big eater? Some girls have severe deep seated emotional connections with eating and can be humiliated by someone they love points out that, for example, her sister is the ‘animal lover’ but she is the ‘food lover’ not because she is a connoisseur (positive) but because she eats a lot (negative).

I hope not!

20.December.2010

Love those canvases! I too only have a small number of nieces amongst a trillion nephews and my own two boys. So I enjoy making something fun for them! In years past it has been little scrapbooks (for our upcoming family Disney vacation, complete with princess and flowers, something I never get to use!), last year were aprons with little fabric flower pin on, and this year, pillows with their names appliqued on – in girly fabric of course.

My mom has always tried to make her presents, but the first thing to stick out to me was the denim picnic quilt she made for my college graduation. It was red and white with denim and made the perfect outside quilt. Then, sadly, I think someone stole it. I was selling items at our annual Base-wide Yard Sale and brought that blanket to possibly display items – ended up not using it and it was folded next to my back table. After some time I noticed it was gone and realized someone must have walked off with it. Of all the things to steal – – they could have stolen anything else of more monetary value, but someone took the one precious item to me that cannot be replaced. I learned my lesson to never bring out items to these functions that have ANY emotional/monetary value whatsoever. Whoa – sorry so long. That memory always gets me! :)

20.December.2010

Oh, I love these! I wish I would’ve seen these sooner! My best friends and I are doing a DIY Christmas this year to save money. I know they both would’ve loved these!! I ended up going with YHL’s calendar for one of them, and homemade laundry detergent for the other!

20.December.2010

Katy – Oh, so sorry to hear about your homemade quilt!

20.December.2010

Elizabeth – I used the regular Mod Podge on the canvases and fabric. I appreciate your concern about my niece, Caitlyn. I may have sent out a misconstrued image of emotional eating. However, Caitlyn is only 2 years old so it really is just a little joke. I would hope no one thinks that I’m poking fun at girls {or boys!} that have any sort of eating problem. I was just looking for a very basic image to put on her canvas that she would recognize as a toddler. I figured since she really enjoys eating {who shouldn’t enjoy eating?} that she would like an apple. No worries!

I love them! I think it looks great with the stripes not perfectly…perfect. ;) I made most of my gifts this year, and bought a lot on Etsy. I love handmade things, so much more personal than a big box store. :)

23.December.2010

That’s good. I hope I didn’t offend you- this is something I am super (and sadly?) passionate about. Darn media and it’s influence on young minds!

23.December.2010

Elizabeth – No hard feelings at all! Happy Holidays!

23.December.2010

Dana,
These are adorable. The girls will love them. And, I love them, too!

25.December.2010

Amy – Good! Just don’t spill the beans!

27.December.2010

These are really cute & nicely done. I hope they loved them. Side note…I happened upon your website today via Apartment Therapy. First I was like ‘Oh, she’s from Cincinnati too.’ Then…’Oh, my gosh! I posted her living room on my blog one day!’ (Again, via Apartment therapy.) I did a post about the Halloween decor you added to your lampshades. (Sry…I referenced A. T. and not you at the time.) However, love your website and what you guys have done to your home!

01.January.2011

This canvas is totally my style! I like simple, modern and fabric with Mod Podge. Thanks for the great inspiration.

04.January.2011

I love this idea! My 7 year old daughter is crazy about anything with a peace sign, she will love this :)

04.January.2011

What a terrific idea! You did a beautiful job with these and I’m sure your nieces will love them!!

05.January.2011

Love these canvases! And I really love that cut the fabric shapes by hand and didn’t have to use a die cut machine for this project (which I don’t own, so am frustrated when a project calls for one!). Thanks for sharing

06.January.2011

**Thumbs Up**

Hi, this is my first visit to your page. Loving this post!! I am inspired to do the same for my girls (between my husband & I we have 4 girls, 2 in home full time). These would make great gifts & in fact, we have a bday coming up on the 14th.

Thank you. I am going to check out the rest of your site & subscribe!
~Casey Marie

13.February.2011

I love the canvas monograms. Beautiful!

04.July.2012

Hi there! I just wanted to let you know that this post inspired me to make my own creation for my daughters room & I gave you props on my blog post. Thanks for the inspiration! :)

http://justcallmesahmy.blogspot.com/2012/07/another-new-detail-for-ms-room.html

04.July.2012

Super cute!

04.July.2012

Thanks so much! :)

[…] (Source) […]

[…] I totally get Dana from House*Tweaking. She has two sons, so it’s exciting when she gets to make a girl gift (she has nieces). I have four brothers, so I too get excited when I get to make girl gifts for family members. Dana made this peace canvas for her niece, and it’s completely my style. Simple. Modern. Incorporates fabric. If I can get all three of those things into one project, I’m happy. I think this is a perfect room decoration, especially for those type of girls that like feminine but not “cutesy.” Great job Dana. Visit here tutorial here. […]