DIY aisle runner

Holy cats, this was a challenge! This was my first artsy-craftsy DIY for the wedding. Why not start with the hardest one? This was the one I was the most scared of so I wanted to get it done early. And I did.

Materials used:

• Aisle runner from AC Moore. $30.00 but we had a 50% coupon, yay!
• Acrylic Liquitex soft body paint in crimson ($10) and black ($6). These were expensive but you don't need the high quality we got. I know most gals spend no more than $3 on their paint.
• Paint brushes - I got 2 but only used the small one: Loew-Cornell #3 American Painter 4000 Round
• Masking tape
• Saran wrap

It took just as long as I thought it would. Forever. No, not really. But it took a good hour just to trim the pages I printed out from the computer (I designed this in Illustrator and then saved as a PDF), line the 12 "puzzle pieces" up and get it all taped together.

Then I taped the design to the table. And (with much help from Mr. Glampants) I covered the table in saran wrap. Then I lined the runner up over the design. (And didn't remember to put a layer of plastic between the runner and the design. But more on that in a moment.)

It was very slow going at first because I had never painted anything before. I was so thankful that I chose a swirly design because it gave me a lot of liberty while painting. And it was super easy to see through the runner to trace the design with paint.

I found it easier to stand and bend over the table to do it but it caused some muscle soreness. Oh well. It would be worth it in the end, right? I spent all Sunday on it, did some on Monday night and finished on Tuesday night. The letters and numbers? NO FUN! I was not a fan of their straight lines and I just wanted to be done with the project at that point.

 But I made it through to the end!

All finished! But remember what I mentioned about not putting a piece of plastic (other gals use wax paper but we were out) between the runner and design? Not the best idea. The paper design was completely stuck to the runner as it had dried that way. Nooooooooooo! So I spent the next day slowly and carefully pulling it off. But that didn't work everywhere, especially in the middle where the paint was the heaviest. So I cut around and through each part of the design and left some of the paper on the runner. This took a few hours. You can't see it because it's behind the paint. But this is a lesson for anyone else who will attempt this crazy project.

It is TOTALLY worth all the headache though. That's a huge check off my DIY project list. One down and about 12 to go.