What I'm Makin(g) Monday: Wall Vinyl Decal! {And Giveaway!}

I'm sucking at this meme thing already. I mentioned planning to start one this week, and here I am, finally posting it Monday afternoon...

In an effort to make myself more crafty, and also brag a little about some of my accomplishments, I thought it would be fun to make Monday my craft-related post day. It'll also hopefully be a fun way to see other crafts out there that I haven't heard of and that I'd like to maybe try (or buy) when others link up and share their skills.

Here's the idea: Share a post, a link, a photo, a tutorial, whatever of something you've made. It can be a craft, food, digital design, whatever!! Maybe later I'll get specific with some prompts but for now people can just share whatever they want. I'll also post something I've made which may or may not include a tutorial. For the first little while, everyone who participates will be entered for a giveaway, and I'll announce what the giveaway item is that week. Some may be big, and some may be small, some maybe even be nothing at all... We'll see how it goes. So if you know wannabe crafters or chefs out there, or people who already are, let them know there's another place to share!

This week will be a little different since it's short notice and it's the first week! But there's still a giveaway everyone can enter at the end.

So let's get this party started... As part 3 of my Operation Nursery Makeover, and my first ever installment of "What I'm Makin(g) Monday" I made a wall decal for Spawnie's Nursery.

Trading Phrases contacted me a couple of months ago about their beautiful wall vinyl designs. I checked out their nursery designs and found the perfect one for Spawnie's room!

It says "With a Butterfly Kiss and a Ladybug Hug, Sleep Tight Little One, Like a Bug in a Rug." I thought since her room is butterfly themed, and I call her my little bug it was PERFECT.

They were really nice and suggested I get color samples so I knew for sure it would match our room. I did as they suggested and narrowed it down to three greens and three pinks, they sent me a postcard with little stickers of the vinyl's color and I picked my two favorite.

Shortly after I got the vinyl in the mail all rolled up nicely in a tube, and was ready to get to work! But I had a dilemma... Our walls are a little lumpy, "textured" I guess is the correct term. The nice people at Trading Phrases told me it would still work, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't want to stick it directly on my wall. I remembered a project I did once for my living room and got an idea!

First, I bought some wood at Lowe's, I bought a big piece that was 4 feet long, by 2 feet wide, and got it cut down to 17in wide (the size of the vinyl). It wasn't thick... About 1/4 of an inch.

I got home and painted it with two coats of brown, and a coat of sealant. You can get sealant at any craft store, and it's not too expensive... about $5 for a bottle that should last awhile.

I made sure to get the sides and everything real good, and then I waited for it to dry.

Now it's time to get the vinyl! ... See where I'm going with this? One thing I like about Trading Phrases is they sent two pieces of "practice vinyl" with smaller phrases so I could get the hang of how to peel the papers and stuff before I did it for real... Good idea cause reading the instructions were a little confusing at first, but after I tried it a couple of times on the bottom of the my door for practice, I got the hang of it.

Now it was time to lay it out on the wood. Since mine came in two parts I took some time to mark where I wanted each piece to start and stop. Since the wood was practically the perfect size I had to make sure no words were falling off the edge.

I got it lined up and put down the first part.

Then the second part! And then covered both with another layer of sealant. I noticed there was some blank space in the bottom corner of the wood, and normally on the wall I think it would look fine, but since it was plain brown there I decided to spruce it up a little with some paper butterflies I had left over from the butterfly mobile I made. Then... TADA!!!!

What do you think? See, now the whole point of this meme thing is to get encouragement so don't let me down!

I'm really happy with how it all turned out, and the best part is I can take it with me when we move!

If you DO put it on the wall, it's way easy to take off just by peeling, or adding a little heat (with something like a blow dryer) and peeling.

Want to try this craft yourself? Trading Phrases has offered to donate this wall decal to one of my readers!! It'll come in black 24in X 11in, it's over a $39 value! And if you want to add it to a plaque, now you know how!! Want to get to know Trading Phrases better? They're @TradingPhrases on twitter and they have a Facebook Fan Page.

*HOW TO ENTER*

Visit Trading Phrases and tell me your favorite wall decal in the comments. That's all! See? Easy peasey!

*FOR EXTRA ENTRIES*

-Be(come) a follower of my blog

-Link up to What I'm makin(g) Monday this Monday 4/12 or next Monday 4/19 or the last day of the giveaway 4/26, and leave a comment letting me know you did! (2 entries for each time you participate!)

Contest ends April 26th, at 11:59pm. Random.org will choose a winner! Good luck!

Did you make something? Please share! In your post, link back to "What I'm Makin(g) Monday" and link up!