Thrifty Decorating: Mother's Day Idea from {k.i.s.s}...

Hi, I'm Tatum, author of the blog, Keep it Simple, Sister and I am so excited to be posting at Thrifty Decorating today! Mothers' Day is sneaking up on us, friends, and I have a fun and simple idea to honor the mother(s) in your life and win you some major brownie points.

I consider myself a student of Nate, meaning I watch the Nate Berkus Show religiously. If you are a fan too, you've probably heard him preach that your decor should be more than random pretty objects, it should have personal meaning. I wholeheartedly agree. So I took inspiration from one of my favorite trends, word art and number art, to create some decor pieces for moms that would have real meaning. I made text art out of their children's and grand children's names and birth dates. The concept is pretty basic, but the possibilities are limitless. Combine some pretty fonts with great colors and the names and/or dates that are most important to your mom, put it in a pretty frame and you've just guaranteed your spot in the will.

Here's what you need to make your own Mothers' Day text art

A word processing program like Microsoft Word or Neo Office or Photoshop (you can download a free 30-day trial!)

A printer or access to a copy/printing store
White card stock
Picture frame

There is not a formal tutorial for this project. The only instructions are to open your word processing program or Photoshop, type your names and/or dates, and play with different fonts, sizes, colors and placement and just be creative and have fun.

Tips for Making Mothers' Day Text Art

Start with great fonts. The font(s) you choose will set the style for your piece. Your choices are endless from retro, to distressed, handwritten, modern, or calligraphy styles- find the ones that reflect your mom. Sites like dafont.com have a lot of great fonts to download for free! Here are some links that explain how to install a new downloaded font on Windows or Mac (it's much easier than you think).

Don't be intimidated. Say it with me, "I can do this project!" You don't need a background in graphic design or amazing computer skills to make text art. If you can type, change the size and font style of your words, you can do this. If you need some creative inspiration to get you going, check out sites like tinyprints.com or photoaffections.com that create invitations and announcements, they have great ideas for word art.

Choose your frame first. The frame you use will determine the size of your artwork ( 5 x7, 8x10, etc). This is especially important if your frame is an irregular size. The frame can also help you choose the style and colors you use in your artwork.

Print wisely. Print your artwork on card stock to give it a more professional look. If your artwork has a lot of color (see image below), that will require a lot of ink, I recommend taking it to a copy or printing store where they can print a nice smooth copy, free of flaws (and save your toner cartridge on your home printer). It cost me about 70 cents per 8.5 x 11 sheet to print my artwork on card stock at my local copy store.

{ fonts are Walkway Semibold and Jellyka Bee's Antique}

Here are some examples of Mothers' Day text art I have created. I have used a good old word processing program for some and Photoshop for others, but all designs are very basic. I am happy to answer any questions you have, so feel free to contact me. Below each example I have listed the name of the fonts I used in case you want to download them (fonts without links are standard fonts already installed on most computers).

{Fonts are Lobster and Jellyka Bee's Antique}

{Font is Walkway}

{Fonts are Hoedown, Jellyka Western Princess, Orator Std, Zapfino and Carnevalee Freakshow}

{Font is Payday}

{Fonts are Honey Script, American Typewriter, Viper Nora, and Budmo}

{Font is Viper Nora}

{This is a great design for a mom with LOTS of grandchildren.

Fonts are Callie Hand and Fairfax Station}

{Font is Viper Nora}

{Fonts are Walkway and Payday}

This weekend I will be sharing some fun and simple ways to frame your Mothers' Day text art projects on my blog, Keep it Simple, Sister. I am also hosting a giveaway for a burlap pillow cover from beiFIORI Embellish which you are welcome to enter. I hope you'll stop by! Thanks for having me here at Thrifty Decorating. Have a great weekend, friends!

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Thanks so much for posting, Tatum! And a HUGE thanks for including the font names!! So many times I see a really cool looking font, but I have NO idea how to track it down!

{Keep it Simple, Sister} is definitely becoming one of my favorite blogs. Tatum's projects are original, unique, simple and inexpensive!

The first project of hers that I saw were these gorgeous window boxes!