Make Your Own Guest Book Gallery Wall

I’ve been wanting to share this post with you guys for a while now. This Guest Book Gallery Wall is probably my absolute favourite craft that we’ve ever done in our home and it’s all because I watch too much reality TV. If you are a fan of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, you may remember the episode when Yolanda painted the mini canvasses for her daughter. They hung a collage of them in her daughter’s new apartment. I immediately thought what a cool idea and had to come up with my own version.

I started thinking about how I wanted to do this. How I wanted to incorporate these mini canvasses into our own home. Then one day Michaels was having a big blowout on art supplies and the 6″ x 6″ canvasses were on sale, so I bought 20. It was a good deal! Still not really knowing what I wanted to do with them, but knowing at some point, I would figure it out, I also bought a set of acrylic paints and a bag of paintbrushes.

At that point, we had all the supplies and they sat in a box until my best friend came for a visit. That’s when it hit me. We live far away from our families and friends, so when someone comes to visit, it’s a big deal. Instead of having a traditional guestbook, for friends and family to write a few sentences in. I decided to turn these canvasses into a Guest Book Gallery Wall.

I can’t even tell you how excited I was to share this idea with my husband, who was equally happy with the idea. Maybe my excitement rubbed off, or perhaps, he’s just learned over the years that my ideas are always good ones and to just go with it. Either way, he listened, as I chatted my way through how cool this idea really was.

I started looking at ideas on Pinterest for what others had done with mini canvasses and start a board for my favourite ideas. You can follow my Guest Book Gallery Wall Ideas board here on Pinterest. Armed with ideas and my first guest on her way, since I had bought all the supplies. I could barely contain my excitement, nor could I wait to let her in on what my plan was.

I let my bestie know that we had plans for her last night visiting and that we’d order in dinner and paint. She loved the idea and was all set with her own ideas, come Sunday night. This has since turned into a tradition. The last night our guests are with us, we all sit around the kitchen table and paint.

There are no rules. You can paint anything you absolutely want. It can be simple or complicated, I can be abstract or lifelike. Really anything goes. We know it can be intimidating to paint something off the cuff. So, we let everyone know in advance that we’d like them to paint at the end of their visit. We also let them know that we don’t expect anything fancy and I offer up my Pinterest board for inspiration.

My aunt who stayed with us for a month before our second son was born, told me over and over that she was just not creative and didn’t think she’d be able to do this. It was making her anxious and that is never our intention.

So, I offered up an idea of just painting the background a solid colour and writing something on top. She ran with that idea and listed all the things that made her stay special, inside jokes and outings we had. When I say it can be anything, I mean that. Don’t limit your guests. Let them run with whatever they want. This can be hard for perfectionists, but the imperfections will make this your favourite craft ever, promise!

It’s also a great way to add pops of colour to a wall that would otherwise go unnoticed. I love the addition of accent colours in any room and this idea lends itself so well for exactly that. I think the versatility of this project is what I love the most. Any colour, any design, anything goes. We just ask that each of our guests sign their painting.

We like to involve everyone. Both our sons have painted with my help or the help of one of our guests. Our oldest son, now that he’s old enough, gets to participate the same as everyone else and loves it. There are days we sit and paint, just because, and those get added to the wall, as well. Maybe calling it the memory wall would be more appropriate, but for now, we’ll stick with our Guest Book Gallery Wall.

It’s quickly becoming my favourite part of our visits. Everyone sits and chats about the time we’ve spent together. It’s always fun and new memories are made. Generally, there are lots of laughs, and it’s a great way to end our visits. Now it’s your turn, here’s how you can Make Your Own Guest Book Gallery Wall.

Make Your Own Guest Book Gallery Wall

If you want to do this for yourself, it’s fairly simple. You literally just purchase some canvases. We use 6″ x 6″, you could do 4″ x 4″ or any other size, but I find the 6″ x 6″ size works great for us. It’s not too big and not too small.

To set the scene, you’ll need some acrylic paints, I like a multi-pack, so your guests can mix paints to create their own colours. I also set out a few paper plates and some plastic cups filled with water so our painters can rinse their brushes. Put out a bunch of different paintbrushes and markers.

Make sure everyone knows to let their paint dry before trying to write on them. Also, keep a roll of paper towels nearby, it’ll come in handy. And if you’re concerned with your table, add a plastic table cloth or some newspaper. That’s it, sit, paint and enjoy your company.

SUPPLIES

• 6″ x 6″ canvases
• acrylic paint (use multiple colours, so everyone can mix their own colours if they want).
• foam sponge paintbrushes like these (affiliate link)
• Multiple sized paint brushes
• markers
• paper plates
• plastic cups or containers for water
• newspaper or a disposable tablecloth to keep your table clean
• paper towels
• small nails (to hang when you have enough)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. First, set up your crafting area. Cover the table if you want with a disposable table cloth or newspaper. Set out paper plates for mixing paint, and some water-filled plastic cups or containers and paper towels.
2. Set out the paints, paintbrushes and give everyone a canvas to paint.
3. If anyone needs ideas, Pinterest is a great place for a visual search on mini canvas paintings.
4. Generally, we start by painting the canvas one colour. Once that dries, design and style however you wish.
5. Have each guest sign their painting. We have everyone sign the edge of their canvas, but whatever works for you.
6. Let dry and then hang in your desired area.

Once we had accumulated about 25 paintings. I went ahead and hung them on our hallway wall. It’s the perfect spot. When you walk in our front door, that’s the wall you see. There’s no sunlight in our hallway, so this collage of mini canvasses adds the perfect pop of colour to an otherwise dreary area.

Like I said before, and I want to really emphasize this, there are no rules. It can be something memorable from their trip, it can be something random, or an inside joke, anything! Then we hang them up on the wall after they’ve dried. It’s such a nice reminder when you walk past your little gallery, to see what all of your friends and family, who have come to visit, have essentially helped put together for you. #bestcraftever

Our guests always have fun painting these canvasses and helping build our Guest Book Gallery Wall. And it’s really, really nice to have that little reminder of their visit. And I hope for years to come, this grows and grows, and we’ll be able to have multiple walls with paintings on them.

Are you a fan of this Guest Book Gallery Wall craft? Check out these other DIY projects and crafts, I’m sure you’ll enjoy:

• Make Your Own Balloon Dart Art Painting
• Make Your Own Sunset Ombre Vase
• Bean Bin for Toddlers

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If you get a chance to make this or any other craft on the blog and want to share. Please feel free to tag @candyjarchronicles or use #candyjarchronicles on Instagram, so I can see your photo. I’d love to see what you’re crafting in your home!

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