DIY Faux "wall paper" stripes tutorial

Alright, I mentioned in my last post I would put up a tutorial on how to do "faux wall paper stripes" with colored butcher paper. Honestly, it was easy! I even did it while the hubby was sleeping (in the same room!) I have been searching for a budget friendly way to fake paint my walls for quite some time now. I looked into renters wallpaper, fabric with the temporary glue made of cornstarch, I looked into buying vinyl. I thought, and thought and thought...and nothing I researched was worth my effort (since I don't know how long we'll live here) or fit within my budget that my husband wouldn't have a COW when he found out how much I spent doing such a project!

I finally came up with the idea of using colored butcher paper because my husband is a teacher. He came home once upon a time with a big wad of paper, and asked me if I would make a poster for his classroom, and a light bulb went off in my head!

Looking back on this project, I wish I would have chosen to do 9 inch stripes rather than 5 inch, but I wanted to get as many stripes out of my paper as I possibly could (because I am cheap resourceful like that). But either way, I still love it over my bare walls!

So here it is! The tutorial to do it yourself.

1.  Find a location in your area that sells colored butcher paper. I found one in Orem (because the there isn't one where I live) that sold it for $0.35 a foot.

2. Measure your wall so you know how many feet you need to buy. And also decide how wide you want your stripes. A normal paper is 36 inches long. So you'll need however many papers divided by the width you want, that will fit on each, until you have enough to cover the entire distance of your wall.

ex. my wall was 8 feet wide, by 12 feet tall. I did 5 inch stripes and put a stripe every 10 inches. I was able to get 6 stripes out of one paper width.  I needed 2 papers, and had some left over.

3. Using chalk (literally my daughters play chalk) I measured my 5 inches per stripe, as well as length 8 ft, plus one inch (it's better to be too long than too short right?) all the way up and across my paper to use as a cutting guide. I used white chalk since nothing else would show up and that was my back side once it was hung up.

Measuring Stripes and making guides to help with cutting

4. Cut your stripes. I couldn't find any scissors, so I used my rolling fabric cutter (which is probably why my lines were so loopy, besides the fact that I can't cut a straight line if my life depended on it! Although it was probably easier, it would be more sturdier using scissors...imo.

5. Next, I went into my room, where my husband was sleeping in our bed, and measured my wall and made a notch every 5 inches with the chalk because it would come clean so easily afterwards.

Sweet Dreams dear Hubby!

6. Using my notches as a guide, a level, and push pins, I hung up my stripes one by one. On one of them I had to cut around a plug plate. I cut around the plate (going in less than 1/4 of an inch further than needed so the plate would lay in front the paper ever so slightly). *3M also makes poster paper hanging tape that doesn't leave any residue or take the paint off that you could buy, cut up into smaller pieces, and hang that way. I chose pins, but my thumbs were SUPER sore by the time I was done!

*This was before I cut the paper around the outlet.

6. I did buy some of that tape mentioned above for a few of the "middles" of my stripes. Some were looser than others and it was really bothering me, so I used that to make it smoother on the wall.

7. The BEST PART...Hang your decor on top!

Ran out of paper and pins, so Here it is "finished" until Monday (I was doing this project over Mother's Day weekend) and I can go buy more!

The Man Cave

When we first moved into our new home, my husband went scouting to find all the "nooks and crannies" of the place. He came across a little room (and I mean little) behind our water heater closet, under the stairs. It is literally big enough for him to lay down, and to sit up, but not able to stand. He came running up to me, "Come check this out!" So I went to see what all the excitement was about, and he begged and pleaded to turn it into his Man Cave. Considering there really isn't anywhere else for him to have a man cave, I said yes. He immediately thought up some plans of how he was going to decorate, and what accessories he needed to make it a home. First things first, an extension cord and a lamp. Then came some jimmy rigged bookshelves out of really sturdy cardboard boxes turned on its side (he is a bookworm)! Then came the bean bag chair that he got for Father's Day from me and our daughter. I wanted to get him some cute manly decorations to go in there. I kept seeing all of these "Man Cave" signs, but none of them seemed to really speak about my hubby! I decided I was going to make one so that it fit his personality.

This is what I came up with! I absolutely love it! I ended up giving it to him as a gift for Christmas. He was so excited to put it in his man cave! He even admitted, it wasn't too girly! YAY!

How to:

1. Print the Man Cave Rules printable on cardstock, or heavier paper so it doesn't tear
2. Buy a 11x14 (ish) plaque from any crafting store (mine is from Walmart for about $7.00)
3. Paint it your desired color
4. Use modge podge on the back of the paper, then place it on the wood plaque. Try to lay as flatly as possible, and get as much of the air bubbles out before you put the top coat on.
5. Top coat of modge podge to seal the paper. *if there are air bubbles, use a pin (I poked holes in the thick letters or objects (fleur de lis) to hide the holes a little better just in case), and reseal.
6 *Optional* I personally LOVE shoe polish. It is the easiest way to get distressed look! I use it for everything! I distressed my paper edges, but not the wood edges because my husband doesn't like the "antique" look and I didn't want to over do it and have him hate it!
7. Ta Da! Man Cave sign!

If you would like your free printable of the "Man Cave Rules" click here