DIY State Love Art

I love personalized art in a home.  Something with meaning for you always looks better than generic art from a big-box store. 

One idea for personalized art is state art.  There are a lot of great prints you can buy from Etsy artists like AsYouWishPrinting and Southern Slang

AsYouWishPrinting

Southern Slang

Both of these prints are lovely, but if you’re like me and don’t feel like spending money you can make your own state love art for free! 

I made these prints last year so I don’t have step-by-step photos but the instructions are pretty easy.  First, find a printable of the state or states you want to feature.  I like these worksheets from About.com

Print off your map.  If the state isn’t the size you want for your print you can resize it on a copier.  Then pick out a cute piece of scrapbook paper and tape it to the back of your map print-off.  Now start cutting!  Obviously some states have simpler shapes then others, so if you don’t live in Kansas or Utah this might take a little bit of time. 

The next step is to mount the scrapbook paper state onto a solid piece of cardstock in a complementary color.  Finally it’s time to add a heart.  I just drew hearts until I had a size and shape I was happy with and then I traced that onto a different color of scrapbook paper and cut it out.  For my project I did Illinois, where I’m from, and Missouri, where my hubby is from and also where we live, so I put the hearts over our hometowns. 

And that’s it!  I put them into some simple white frames I picked up from Target that were on clearance for about $4.  I absolutely love how they turned out!

And here’s how they look hung up in my bathroom

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and if you’re here in the Midwest, stay warm!

*Linking up at Serenity Now*