Easels Get A Paint Job

Easels Get A Paint Job

February 1st, 2010 @ 10:23 am by Mrs. Sewing
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While perusing Daiso one day, I happened upon a guestbook epiphany. What if we had mini easels with canvas you could paint and sign the back of?

One per table?

Well, Mr. Sewing and I found our 20 easels, courtesy of every Bay Area Daiso there is. The only problem? They were white easels, not black like I had in mind.

It was time to break out the acrylic paint!

Two coats were needed…

… And we’re set!

Now they’re ready to be taken over to Hawaii with us and put into Mr. Sew’s family storage unit.

The stands were simple enough, but the concept is still causing me a bit of trouble. Let me ask you for help defining the best way to make this idea work. First, I’ll be putting a backing onto the 4×6″ canvases so that people can “sign the guestbook”. I eventually want to hang up the 20 or so painted red & black pieces in a collage/mural in my home. They’ll paint with brush pens, not actual messy paint.

Now, what kind of mural?

Should I outline one overall large image, and have each table “color in” appropriately, to piece it together at the end like this:

(source)

Or should I paint a sample of what they should draw on a tag, and get everyone’s interpretation of a similar image like this:

Easels Get A Paint Job : wedding crafts diy favors 5ca85e36

(source)

Or should I give them a free-for-all, and let them draw whatever it is they want to?

(source)

How much artistic freedom would you like as a guest? Or would you rather just sign the back and leave the scribbles and coloring to someone else?

Tags: crafts, diy, favors |

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33 Responses to “Easels Get A Paint Job”

1 2 Last

Member

KMSull (message) 6,442 posts, Bee Keeper

Oooooh this is hard! I like the second option best, I think. It gives them more freedom than making them fill in an outline, but less than letting them go hog wild. That’s never a good idea (mixing paint and random people).

2/1/10 @ 10:35 am (reply)

Member

Gilneas (message) 1,393 posts, Bumble bee

I think you should give them guidance. Either the first or second one is my vote. I like the idea of the 1st a lot, but I don’t know if it would come together really well. The second one may be kind of cool and very pop art-y to hang up afterwards.

2/1/10 @ 10:37 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Giraffe (message) 4,216 posts, Honey bee

Hmmm, I think the second idea would be a good one

2/1/10 @ 10:38 am (reply)

Guest

Miss Red Head

A little structure is good - ask for a theme, like apples, have everyone at the table collaborate to draw, color, or paint an apple. It would be really fun! Enjoy that - I wish I would have thought of it!
There was one thing I saw somewhere when I was figuring out my “guest book;” a sectioned off piece of artwork - a drawn piece of some flowers or a landscape, then each guest was asked to paint with the provided watercolors a square of the piece. It was pretty interesting in the end!

2/1/10 @ 10:39 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Pug (message) 3,753 posts, Honey bee

maybe you could provide some canvases that have the front already painted in, and some that don’t in order to allow guests to pick and choose how much artistic freedom they want (with a sign somewhere explaining how this is going to work). i personally would not want to draw anything (you wouldn’t want me to either), but i do love the idea and think that other guests should take full advantage, which is why i suggest the mix.

2/1/10 @ 10:49 am (reply)

Member

amariem25 (message) 3,733 posts, Sugar bee

I think a free for all would be the best. I had guests drawing pictures on our guestbook pages and it was so funny to see what they drew. We loved going through all the pages. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what your guests can come up with. Who knows, maybe some of the tables will even have a competition going on.

2/1/10 @ 10:49 am (reply)

Member

pvaulter718 (message) 2,116 posts, Buzzing bee

I think some kind of guidance is best. Personally, I’m not much of an artist and would be extremely timid about painting/drawing something without having any idea what you were thinking.

2/1/10 @ 10:55 am (reply)

Guest

Emily

I agree with Miss Pug - I would not want to draw anything, but would still want to sign the guest book. Is there a way you can mix it up so your really creative guests can go to town and other people like e can just write a message?

2/1/10 @ 10:59 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Sewing (message) 2,701 posts, Sugar bee

@Miss Pug: @Emily: Well, I’m hoping that out of each table of 8, at least one of them would want to paint! I’ll leave the back of the canvas for written messages.

2/1/10 @ 11:03 am (reply)

10.

Bee

Miss Hermit Crab (message) 3,530 posts, Sugar bee

I love this idea, and I actually think that if you only have a few color possibilities, abstract art in those colors would look very cool together. You may run into those who don’t know what to paint, but you may get some very cool images! cool idea - looking forward to seeing how it all looks afterward!

2/1/10 @ 11:11 am (reply)

11.

Member

gill84 (message) 725 posts, Busy bee

bananagram is a great game

I like the interpretation choice the best. Good luck with your decision!

2/1/10 @ 11:12 am (reply)

12.

Bee

Miss Stripes (message) 1,063 posts, Bumble bee

I’m a BIG fan of this project Sewing! I LOVE it! However I can see some wedding guests being a tad bit intimidated….so I think option two, or a little guidance, will go a long way! In college I did a project where I had to draw/paint etc.. the same image 100 times and it took some serious creativity….I love the results though and the repetition of the same object in a totally different way. You’ll have even better/more diverse results since you’ll have different peeps doing the work AND artwork for your home. Score! I may steal part of this!

2/1/10 @ 11:14 am (reply)

13.

Member

whitesonnet (message) 1,345 posts, Bumble bee

I like the idea, (I’d go number two), but how are your guests supposed to sign the back if the front is wet with paint? That’s my bigger worry. Have instructions for them to sign it first and then start painting?

I would also only give them a few colors. That way if you want to hang the together, even if you let them go willy nilly with it, the colors will tie it together.

2/1/10 @ 11:17 am (reply)

14.

Bee

Miss Sewing (message) 2,701 posts, Sugar bee

@gill84: yess! bananagrams!
@Miss Stripes: 100 variations of the same thing is a lot of images! wow!
@whitesonnet: i have brush pens, which are just markers with a brush tip, so there isn’t much drying time involved! (otherwise I’d be afraid of them dripping onto the table clothes, eep!), and I’m only getting red and black pens, so it’ll be really limited.

2/1/10 @ 11:20 am (reply)

15.

Bee

Mrs. Hot Cocoa (message) 2,077 posts, Buzzing bee

This is such a great idea! And it’s going to make an awesome art piece in your house. I definitely like the idea of giving the guests an idea of what to draw; perhaps you could even go with something abstract, like tell them to put on canvas their idea of love or happiness?

2/1/10 @ 12:12 pm (reply)

16.

Member

slicey19 (message) 2,844 posts, Sugar bee

I’ve participated in a saimilar project as a wedding guest twice. Basically, we were given a small square out of a larger picture and asked to paint it onto a large canvas the first time. The second time, hearts were pre traced onto the canvas and guests could paint within the lines however they wanted. In both cases, there were some guests who liked the painting more than others ´(we used acrylic paint and brushes). Both times the end result came out great.

2/1/10 @ 12:13 pm (reply)

17.

Member

Pedsgirl06 (message) 67 posts, Worker bee

What a fantastic idea! I love it! I really like the first idea, but what would the big picture be of? I can see where that may not come together as well as you’d like. The second choice allows more freedom but still has cohesion. Love it!

I love the easels as well. And not to sound all motherly, but did you put a topcoat on them? The few times I’ve re-painted in acrylic, I always end up rubbing off the top layer unless I’ve done a topcoat. I try to help others learn from my (frequent!) mistakes.

2/1/10 @ 12:18 pm (reply)

18.

Bee

Mrs. Mouse (message) 5,844 posts, Bee Keeper

I say don’t give them too much artistic freedom. You never know what wildly innappropriate (or just downright unintelligible) things people might decide to paint!!

2/1/10 @ 12:28 pm (reply)

19.