Seeking Sole Mates Missing Sock Holder

One of the first photos I pinned on Pinterest was this fun missing sock holder from Rambling as Usual. 

Source.

At that time, our new dream house was still in the dream stage, so I was happy to have found Pinterest to remember all the ideas I wanted to borrow. 

Since this was the week of projects, it was time to tackle my own take on the missing sock holder. I  wanted to try my own subway art, much like this, so I combined the two ideas.

(Updated to include a list of materials. Thanks to Pinaway for the idea).

Supply List:

• large canvas 
• leftover house paint (two colors)
• paint or foam brush (whichever you prefer)
• straight edge for lining up letters
• vinyl letters (either pre-cut with a Silhouette or generic stickers)
• nails or screws
• wire or twine (personal preference)
• clothes pins

I started out with a large canvas from Hobby Lobby. (I'm also found them on Amazon).

I used some of our leftover house paint. I wanted the letters to be the same grayish green as the laundry room walls. This is Sherwin Williams Oyster Bay.

Next, I painted the entire top of the canvas.

While the paint was drying, I cut out the vinyl letters (bought at Target) to spell the words, "Seeking Sole Mates." The former writer in me is proud of my wit.

Once the canvas was dry, I borrowed my son's art project to put my letters on a straight line.

I needed two lines, so I lined up "sole mates" with a right justification.

Letters done.

I don't know if it was the canvas or the vinyl, but it didn't stick as well as I would have liked.

Next, I used another paint color, in this case, Sherwin Williams Sensuous Gray, for the canvas color.

I started by very carefully painting over the letters. The paint sealed the letters down. 

As you can see, the vinyl wasn't fully stuck to the canvas, even after the paint.

Then I painted the rest of the canvas.

 When the paint was dry, I used a butter knife to carefully remove the letters.  

There's a little bleeding, but I like the overall look.

I didn't fully coat the canvas as thickly as I thought I did, but it provides some texture.

I considered gluing clothes pins to the canvas, but that didn't seem very strong, so I used wire instead. I put nails on either side of the back of the canvas and wrapped the wire around one nail.

 I wrapped the wire loosely across the front...

...then wrapped the wire around the second nail, the wrapped the wire loosely across the back for hanging and then wrapped the wire around the first nail again. 

I hung it up on the little wall by the window...

and washer and dryer.

I love practical art.

I still have a few ideas for the laundry room, but they will have to wait until we get our family photos back!

Updated: This is my far our most popular post. Feel free to use this tutorial to make your own, but please give credit where credit is due. Plus, if you link back, I can admire your work, too!

Linked on: Blissfully Ever After, Thrify Decor Chick, I Heart Naptime, Centsational Girl, CSI Project, Glitter, Glue & Paint, Mums Make Lists, Tuesday's Treasures, House of Hepworths, Miss Information, I'm an Organizing Junkie 

 

Featured on Buzzfeed, although, sadly, without a link back here.