I’ve been wanting for a while to put the word “Grace” in large lettering on our hallway wall.  I want to see the constant reminder both of “grace-based parenting” and of my favorite Jerry Bridges quote.  But I couldn’t figure out how to do it.  I’m not a painter.  The hall is too narrow to project anything up there to trace.  And I couldn’t find vinyl wall art that was just the one word.

Then I learned that LetteringOnTheCheap.com (which I hadn’t previously heard of) was looking for someone to try out their service.  It was (is) exactly what I needed!  You can custom-design your artwork from them, and it’s super-easy.

 

The online creator offers you a variety of fonts (and images) to use.  They have a number of different vinyl colors, and you can combine these within a single piece of art, as needed.  Just tell it how large a “canvas” you want to use, then get designing.  Type and retype, resize and rearrange as needed until it looks the way you want it.  Then it will tell you how much it will cost.

A few things I learned:

• The pricing is based, in large part, on the size of the piece.  So if you decide that your artwork is significantly smaller than the size you started with, go back and do it again with a smaller “canvas” size – it can make a significant difference to the final price.
• But don’t cut it too close.  It’s harder to apply the vinyl if it goes right to the edge.
•  This was the only thing I didn’t like about the system – if you want to change the overall size you have to go back and start over.
• The display area in the workspace is a little larger than the actual cut size, so pay attention to the rulers, and be sure to preview it carefully, to be sure you haven’t cut anything off on the edges.
• Larger pieces are, of course, more expensive.  They’re also trickier to apply, because they get more air bubbles between the cover film and backing.

I was very impressed with the quality, and pleased with the final results.  I ordered four different pieces, ranging from pretty small (about 2 feet wide by only a few inches tall) to quite large (about 3 feet by 4 feet, and one about a foot tall and 6 feet wide).  I installed all of them myself, and I don’t have any great home improvement skills.

The installation videos and instructions were very helpful.  There was just one “glitch” – the instructions say to prep the surface by cleaning it with window cleaner.  This is not intended to apply to walls!  (I verified this with the company just to be sure.)  It’s just for nonporous surfaces.  Just be sure the wall you apply the artwork to is clean, and you shouldn’t have to do anything special to it.

They didn’t seem to have instructions, though, for separating a piece top-to-bottom if it’s very tall, so I figured out my own method, and you can see it here:

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There was one small spot where a large air bubble between the film and backing made my lettering “scrunch.” To fix it, I simply didn’t burnish it down firmly before removing the film, then gently lifted the edge of the piece that was kinked and smoothed it back down.  Then I rubbed it down firmly.

   I am really thrilled with this art; every time I walk through my house and see it, it makes me smile. 🙂

If you are interested in ordering wall art like this, use coupon code TITUS2 for 10% off your first order.

Disclosure: I received a gift certificate from LetteringOnTheCheap.com to use their service and facilitate this review.  As always, all opinions are entirely my own.