There’s one thing my two preschool-age boys just can’t get enough of. When it comes to cars and trucks (or pretty much any form of transportation), my boys are hooked. Now since I’m a crafty – and thrifty – mama who loves to decorate, you’ll never catch me in a store buying pre-made, commercial kids decorations. No, no, I’d rather create my own custom car-themed decorations, including this incredibly easy piece of wall art, to display in my children’s room.
With just a few simple materials – which you probably already have if you’re a crafter – you too can create easy, custom car-themed wall art (for free!). Or, replace the cars and make your artwork truck-themed, train-themed, airplane-themed, or whatever your kids are currently obsessed with. Here’s how to start:
Required craft materials:
– newspaper
– tacky glue
– ModPodge
– scissors
– pen
– old greeting or holiday cards, magazine pages
– canvas frame, panel or cardboard
– paintbrush
Craft instructions:
1. Creating this piece of wall art is easy, it’s simply made through collage and decoupage. Begin by pulling out the automotive section of your newspaper, and cutting a sheet to cover the surface of your canvas. Brush a layer of ModPodge both under and over the newspaper layer to attach.
2. Search through magazine pages or old greeting cards for a large section of black paper, then cut out a wide, angled piece to act as your road. Attach the road onto the top of the newspaper with ModPodge.
3. Continue to search through the automotive section of the newspaper for printed car-themed words, such as companies, makes and models, and descriptive words such as “fast” or “speed.” Alternatively, cut out individual letters to spell our your desired words. Glue these with ModPodge onto the newspaper background.
4. Search through your cards for large, plain-colored papers. Sketch three car shapes on different colored backgrounds, then cut out. Similarly, cut out six black circles for tires, six small newspaper-print circles for hubcaps, nine gray-colored windows, three yellow headlights, three red taillights, and any other accessories you would like to add to your cars. Attach the car shapes, tires, and other details onto the canvas with tacky glue.
5. After your glue has set and dried, brush one or two coats of ModPodge over your finished wall art (letting it dry between coats). When dry, your new car-themed wall art is ready to hang up and display in your child’s room.
How easy was that? Creating your own custom art and décor is so much cheaper and fun when you make it yourself, especially if you get your kids involved. If your children are old enough, allow them to choose their own colors and cut out their own shapes to really make this a personalized piece of art for their bedroom. Happy crafting!