How I Painted a Scripture on My Wall

At The Point
19 Comments

OK y’all, despite the fact that I am terrible at writing tutorials, I am going to try to write one for you.  But if, when you finish reading this, you still have no idea how to paint words on your wall, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I first have to say that I did, in fact, use a stencil.  I originally was going to use my own handwriting since it’s not too terrible, but I taped a piece of wrapping paper (backwards) to the wall and tried it.  Bad.  Bad idea.  Thank God for His wisdom in giving people the idea for stencils because my wall would look like a giant mess if I used my own handwriting.  Not to mention that I am terrible at getting things straight.  I am great at looking at other people’s things and straightening them, but my own….not so much.

I used a level to get the painter’s tape straight.  Because I am a tightwad, I used the same two strips of painter’s tape all the way down.  I just kept moving them each time I would finish the line above.

I just eyeballed the stencil letters.  They aren’t perfectly spaced.  But I didn’t want perfect….I wanted a handpainted look.

If you notice, I have something in my mouth in every picture.  I used two brushes and held one in my mouth while I used the other one.  It’s a talent I developed from my natural love of eating.

This is what the letters looked like after I stenciled them (ignore the top line and look at the bottom three lines of words).

Then I went in with a small, thin line brush and connected the letters and closed up the open spots in each letter.  I also gave the ends of the words a little flourish.

That brush work made all of the difference!

For the big letters inside of the frame, I used my true love Cricut to make stencils with card stock.  Since they would only be used once, the card stock held up just fine.

Then I rubbed in a little bit of brown paint on each letter to give them some age and character.  I only did this inside the frame, I wanted a softer look on the rest of the wall.

It was a really easy project.  Just a bit time consuming.

And there you have it.  For those of you that have told me you want to try it….I hope you will.  It was one of those mindless projects that was easy to do even with the kids coming in and out and playing and talking to me.  I had them taking turns reading the verse to me, two words at a time so I didn’t have to get up and down.  While they read we’d talk about the verse and what it means.

I used a stencil by Plaid that I got at the craft store and those little jars of stencil paste.  I liked the paste so much better than using paint because it didn’t bleed under the stencil and it dried very slowly so I could wipe off the places I messed up (or would have if, of course, I ever messed up anything).  Also, if you really do decide to try this, I  suggest staggering the beginnings of the lines on the left.  They will naturally stagger on the right, depending on where each word ends, so if you stagger them on the left also it will keep you from having to do very complicated mathematical equations.

Happy painting!

I’d be blessed if you’d follow me on Facebook!

19 Comments

  2. Dear Lefty,

    From one who’s been where you done, the whole thing wore me plum out. I’ll take my projector method or the major cutting out of my own stencils.

    All in all, however, the finished wall, the fruit of the labor, the result is on a grandest of scales. THAT is why we start the task. To finish, because the impact will reap one hundred fold.

    To show our kids the beauty in the “written” Word upon our hearts. To pass near it numerous times each day. To s-o-u-n-d It o-u-t. To not only hide It in our hearts but read It, “eat” It, lean on It, rest in It, stand upon It. Oh! That beautiful Word of God!

    I’d be interested to hear the comments made at The Point about this project.

  4. This is beautiful! What a neat idea! I can’t believe it only took you 2 days, I feel like if I tried it it would take me a month. 🙂 Been snooping around your blog finding all your good stuff. I’d love for you to come by and link up some of it at my weekly Flaunt it Friday sometime. 🙂

  5. Lisa, The wall looks fantastic! I don’t know that I would have the patience for this but the results are wonderful. I love your blue piano too.
    Hugs,
    Sherry

  9. WOW… this is FANTASTIC! I always wanted to paint scripture on my daughter’s bedroom walls. Most recently, I planned on doing her favorite quote instead… now, hmmm… I’m not so sure.
    You did an awesome job. Glad I found your site, I plan to investigate & follow. Have a blessed day!

  11. I can’t believe I never left a comment on this post–my brain is fried these days! But WOW, Lisa, this is so beautiful! I’m terrible with a paintbrush, but I’ll bet I might be able to do something similar with a Sharpie. . . Hmmm. You’ve inspired me!

  13. Oh my goodness, I really think we are twins separated at birth, a few years apart, from different parents. I was dreaming of doing something like this on my wall. Great twin minds think alike!

  17. You know… all this time I thought it was a brick wall painted white. I have seen your large frame with “Every perfect gift…” before, but at a glance it just looked like a brick wall texture. This is really awesome! Way better than a brick wall! Haha!

  18. For all those who are wondering what verse she put on the wall, from what I can determine it is James 1:1-11. Beautiful job!

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