I saw a cute print on etsy of various states, similar to the one found here.

I thought it was super cute, but knew I could do it on my own for way cheaper.

I started with a blank canvas I got in a pack of 3 at Tuesday Morning for $5.

It took me a while to decide on my color scheme,

but I’m totally in love with the end result.

First, I painted the canvas using my background color of choice, yellow.

Once that had dried I traced the outline of Virginia from a simple printout I got from the interwebs. Sorry Eastern Shore, you didn’t make the ‘cut’.

I then proceeded to paint the inside of my tracing using my contrasting color, gray. I started on the edge and worked my way in. It took some delicate strokes to get in all those little nooks and crannies in the Chesapeake Bay area.

Once that had completely dried I used my pencil again to freehand a little heart in the bottom right hand corner of Virginia, which is where I was born and raised and continue to live.

I painted the heart red. After all, Virginia is for LOVERS!

 

I love it, and it cost me less than $2 since I already had the paint and I found the canvas’ for super cheap. I haven’t decided where to hang it yet, but I’m thinking among the photo frame wall in our stairwell. We shall see.