Pepper Design Blog

Living Room Refresh: Semi-DIY Colorful Canvas Art

Happy start to the week! Getting those cake posts together last week wore me out… but I have several new home projects to share with you this week and I’m really excited about this first one.

I have been looking for a large piece of art for the living room for some time, but everything I come across is either out of my price range or the wrong size/look. But I’ve found a solution. Using a one yard piece of fabric from Spoonflower + a couple of tubes of oil paint/acrylics, I channeled my inner artist and created a piece of art for the living room.

The fabric did 90% of the work, but maybe that’s why I’m so thrilled with how it came out .

Here’s a reminder of how the space looks when coming in through that above door:

The color palette in this room includes plenty of neutrals plus the occasional bright pop of green and raspberry red.

And this new painting ties in perfectly with the scheme.

The inspiration behind this piece of art came from when my family traveled to Australia two years back to visit my younger brother who was studying abroad in Perth. The aboriginal art was absolutely stunning, full of brilliant colors and beautiful abstract patterns and I badly wanted to bring a giant canvas home. That wasn’t quite possible, mostly due to luggage and price reasons, but it did cause me to begin a search for a potential DIY solution.

What’s kept me from trying this out? The thought of hanging art in the house where I am the artist. I know that sounds crazy, but I’m very critical of my own work and art is very much ‘on display’ – as opposed to maybe a repainted chair or even a room that we’ve completed. Fast forward to this spring, and my finding Ish & Chi’s and MadeByGirl’s absolutely stunning aboriginal pieces of art by artist Jeannie Mills. What a fantastic pop of color for the space! How beautiful!

I know, I know, mine does nothing to contend with the originals. But if your’e not familiar with where my inspiration came from, it’s a fun, extra large piece to have in the house and to bring in that bright coral color.

Original oil paintings (unless awesome thrift store finds – I’ve picked up a few small ones) can be pretty expensive, but when I came across thisfabric on Spoonflower while searching for other random project fabric, a semi-DIY art idea was born. Here’s that exact fabric, plus a few other designs that I loved by the same artist. (Maybe I’ll move the painting to Liv’s future big girl room and use these as the accent fabrics… that watercolor version is amazing.)

That fabric sparked the idea of creating my own canvas art to hang, and the best news yet? Spoonflower gives you the option of ordering on a canvas cloth! It’s not really as thick and sturdy as a gallery canvas, but it is hardier than your average cotton and gives a similar look to the pattern printed on it.

I really love art that is edged out in a simple wooden molding. It’s usually attached to the canvas post-production and sits maybe 1/8″ from the edge of the art (Ish & Chi actually had hers framed just like this but in white). I have a friend who’s aunt makes her own and I was inspired by her birch versions to use this Ikea frame, which worked just perfectly! and for a great price.

The third component to this project was a set of oil paints or acrylics. I have been collecting these little tubes for years and years and was so excited to finally pull my ‘painting’ box off of the bookshelf.

This box holds all kinds of trinkets that I’ve been saving for my future art days. {sigh}

But back to getting that frame all ready to go. First up was ironing out my fabric (Spoonflower ships with fabric folded rather than rolled so there are always a few decent creases) and then flipping it over and cutting to size.

I pulled the fabric nice and tight and added to the frame (with glass and mat removed).

A little super glue along the inside helped to reinforce the position of the fabric. (Photo below shows clamps which were helpful in lining up the fabric on the front side of the frame before securing in place.)

Now we’re ready to paint! Though this particular fabric would have looked great just framed and on its own. (No, I have not kid-proofed my bench seat in seran wrap , that’s just the plastic from the Ikea frame above that I eventually used to protect my table from paint smudges).

See what I mean about little creases? I used the steam option on my iron to get out the last of em before applying paint.

I chose a selection of reds, corals, crimsons, yellows and whites from my paints and began mixing up various shades that could be found in the fabric.

Then I tested my paints out an an extra piece of fabric and gingerly began applying small accent pieces of color throughout the canvas.

But soon enough I realized that the texture of paint brush strokes is really the look I was going for, and before long I had huge globs of paint on my square brush!

(My paint tray has plenty of dried paint in greens and blues and what not, but I used just reds and oranges and yellows for this project).

I slowly began to fill the canvas until nearly all of the squares in the pattern had an accent of real brush strokes (I like the look of highlighting or shadowing one corner).

The project took me an hour, maybe two. Which, in the art world, is like running a marathon at a sprinter’s time (you just can’t beat that!).

I really really love to paint. I don’t have the time (or maybe I should admit that I have had the same half finished canvases in my garage for years – one that’s maybe 15 years old?) but I do have the passion. Maybe a hobby for when I retire .

Liv helped me hang the piece. If you look closely you can see a tiny little hammer in her hand.

In case you’re curious about the door, here’s a shot that shows that the stopper halts the swinging front door just in time. The door couldn’t physically swing that far but it does make me a little less nervous knowing that there’s no glass involved with this art, either.

You can also see here how the weight of the paint on the fabric has caused it to sag a bit. I should probably go back and restretch it – or should have made that a final step before hanging. And to those of you familiar with Spanish-style homes, that’s the original solid door and hardware! It was produced in the 1930′s and while I don’t necessarily love it, it’s probably a crime here in San Diego to replace it.

Total cost for semi-handmade art? (Sandra Lee, anyone?) $25 for that great birch Ikea poster frame and $18 for a yard of canvas fabric from Spoonflower. I already owned the various paints and brushes (yard sales are a great place to pick up extras) so my grand total came to $43, which for such a huge piece is an awesome steal.

More living room posts can be found right here.

The Wedding Cake Saga Part 3: Assembly & the Wedding!

Hello, hello! We are three posts into this wedding cake trio and I’m happy to announce that the cake is baked, iced and awaiting assembly with no major catastrophes! If you have yet to read post 1 and 2, feel free to head on out there to catch up on this particular DIY challenge and then back to see the results.

Speaking of, let’s jump straight to a results photo:

Project wedding cake: complete!

For this last assembly step, this was the bag of goodies that the bride gave me:

How pretty is the L-O-V-E banner that she made? Or the heart-shaped cake topper with their initials? So many fun supplies.

But let’s go back to where we left off with our last post and talk about assembly. Last we spoke, the cake was successfully covered in a buttercream and then fondant for that smooth, wedding-white look.

It’s important to add a structural support system to the cake because at this point it’s quite heavy. Without dowels or rods of some sort, the bottom tiers of the cake will eventually give way to the top tiers above, resulting in concaved and bulging bottom layers over the hours that the cake is on display.

In the past I’ve used 1/4″-1/2″ wooden dowels from the craft or home improvement store, but for this particular cake (and the relatively small size when considering wedding cakes), I used chopsticks! These were easy to cut to height and were the perrrfect diameter. My base layer received six tier-height cuts and the middle layer four. The support system should be at the exact height as the cake – no higher, no lower.

I added my chopstick support system the day before the wedding, and the morning of we packed up the car with my three tiers of cake resting on cookie sheets on the floor of the back seat, and traveled the 10ish miles to the reception site.

Once there I began the assembly in the kitchen… dun, dun, dun, dun…

The  bride covered a piece of plywood with fabric to serve as my cake board base. On went the first tier with the six supports as well as a layer of cut burlap.

Next up was the second tier (by the way, moving these layers is 10 thousand times easier with this tool! The mother of all spatulas and another tool that I borrowed from a friend and will be purchasing.)

Finally the last tier, several layers of burlap, lace and twine, a good smattering of flowers that we asked the florist to set aside, and a beading of icing to help blend where the layers meet.

That soft little beading line can make a huge difference in the ‘finished’ look of the cake and it’s really not difficult with a bit of practice. Using a pastry bag (or zip lock bag) and small round tip, pipe a little round bead, move your bag forward about 1/3″ of an inch and pipe another. Repeat until all layer bases are covered. (Sometimes it’s easier to move ‘backwards’ rather than ‘forwards’, so play with what is your style until you find your rhythm.)

Next, I found some big strong men to move my 50+lb cake from kitchen to reception area. The bride had these beautiful antique mirrored doors for right behind the cake and a big wine barrel as its podium!

Finished! And ready for its close up. Pretty close to Katie’s inspiration, right?

The entire day was just beautiful, starting with a lovely ceremony and followed by that rustic, organic reception that I was describing earlier. Every detail was so special. Here are a few pictures to offer a recap.

I’m so happy with how the cake turned out! And to save the bride a small bundle – ingredients ran in the $200 range, though cakes to feed 150 are probably closer to $750-1000 from a bakery – made the effort all worth it. Hope you enjoyed following along!

The Wedding Cake Saga Part 1: Baking the Cake

This past weekend I had the honor of creating a wedding cake for my friend, Katie. Boy, what an undertaking that was! But because I’m always up for a good challenge and because I love to create personal gifts for those that I care about, I gave her an enthusiastic ‘yes’ at the request.

I’m breaking this saga into three parts: baking, filling & fondant, and assembly/wedding. Join me over the next three days to partake in the journey! If you’re not really interested in the art of novice cake baking, feel free to head right on back here Thursday. If you love up close pictures of  chocolate ganache (that’s so good you could just eat it right off of the computer screen) or are slightly amused by such a ginormic challenge, then I invite you to join along .

Let’s begin. My mission was to design a wedding cake that melded the bride’s organic, rustic-themed wedding (rustic might not be the right word, but think beautiful lace + rugged burlap) while also baking a deliciously yummy dessert that could feed the 150ish guests. Inspiration from the bride included:

Beautiful! I was immediately smitten with the entire look and feel of this future cake.

But gah, I am no cake expert and wedding cakes are a category of their own. I have just two wedding cakes under my belt: the daisy covered cake I baked for a friend a couple of years ago (where I learned that buttercream and I are not best friends) and the beast of a cake that I did for my own wedding – which I really, truly loved (you can see pics of both by scrolling through this post). But even these two projects (years apart, really) make me an absolute beginner at the art of giant cake baking. You will find a million excellent tutorials on the proper baking and styling of wedding cakes from the galore of tasty food blogs out there (one such that I depended heavily on was this one) – but you might also enjoy the ramblings (fortunes and misfortunes alike) of me creating this special dessert. Just please don’t judge (wink, wink).

Let’s start off with the world’s tastiest cake recipe. I made a very similar version for my wedding, but I can report that this one is that much better. It is rich but not overwhelming, it is deliciously moist (in that dense sort of way) but also holds its form well. We went through the entire cake (the below is supposedly enough for 149 people, but maybe I cut too big), and I am hoping that that means I have finally found a good recipe. If you are in need of such a chocolate (with just a hint of of espresso) recipe, look no further. It’s so good it’s worth bookmarking.

Rich Chocolate Espresso Four-Layer Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Chocolate Butter Cake (which was adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes)

I sought out this recipe because I was searching for a tried-and-true wedding cake story (not recipe but blog story, with plenty of reviews and suggestions included). I’ve found that there’s a big difference between chocolate cakes and wedding chocolate cakes – the latter being sturdy, holding its shape well and still being tasty, just any ol’ chocolate cake recipe won’t do. Deb highly recommended this guy on her blog so I gave it a go.

Another huge plus is that this cake recipe is made nearly entirely in one bowl without the usual separating out of dry and wet ingredients. Convenient. Because of this unique assembly, Deb shared that she had issues with deposits of unmixed butter and flour that she had to scrape down often in her mixer bowl, I used very room temperature butter and didn’t run into this issue at all, but it’s worth noting just in case.

Makes one 12-inch square cake layer (or two 8-inch layers). My total cake is three tiers high with a 12″, 8″ and 5″ tier – four layers per tier.

3 cups flour (some use cake flour but I find the regular stuff works just fine and is quite a bit more economical)
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
3 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups freshly brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (I should note that the original recipe calls for 350, but I have come to prefer to bake my cake layers for much longer than a recipe traditionally calls for and at a lower oven temp, and have found that this results in a deliciously rich, flat cake layer that is ideal for stacking). Line the bottom of a 12-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and butter/cooking spray the paper and edges of the pan.

2. In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt (because I’m making so many layers, I prefer to have these ingredients premixed in ziplock gallon bags. One recipe batch per bag and one more step that can be completed a day or two earlier). With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for about 30 seconds.

That butter should be soft.

3. Add the butter and buttermilk and continue to blend on low until moistened. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes (now’s a good time to taste! Your batter should be amazingly delicious and sans eggs)

4. Whisk the eggs and coffee together (both should be room temp), and add to the batter in 3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating only until blended after each addition. Pour into prepared baking dish. If using 8-inch pans, split between two.

5. Bake for 40+ minutes and watch carefully. 8-inch layers may take close to 40 minutes while 12-inch as much as 50-55, the lower 325 temp means that baking time is increased over the average cake but be sure to not over cook! Cake is finished when a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Carefully turn them out onto wire racks and allow to cool completely. I prefer to keep the cakes right side up (to prevent any breaking if the edges or center rises higher than average), so I flip them twice. Once to remove them from the pan (the layer is now upside down) and once again onto a wire rack for cooling (now it’s back right side up). Leave those parchment paper liners on for refrigerating later.

*A couple of thoughts on baking a flat cake. I have used both a heating core (if you use, grease well!) and baking strips in the past and I find both to be helpful (especially at calming the nerves – so if you’re that type I highly recommend), but the best tip I have ever received is to drop the temp of a recipe and bake for a longer time. As mentioned above this is already a step I suggest to create a dense cake, but it also yields near flat results as well. I baked near all layers above with neither the core nor the strips, but that’s mostly because I forgot the former at my house (baking at my parents which is in the same city that the wedding is) and forgot to apply the latter to most cakes prebake.

If you do end up with a tiny extra lip like above, a simple serrated knife should do the trick. Start at each corner and work your way towards the center.

You can use this technique to slice thick layers in half (my ideal cake layers are 1/2-3/4″ tall and four layers thick per tier).

If you’re keeping track, this three-tier, four-layer-per-tier cake calls for about 6lb of butter, a 5lb bag each of flour and sugar, 3lbs of cocoa, 2 dozen eggs, a half gallon of buttermilk and 12 parchment squares. Dang.

Next, I cut out foam core bases for each layer of the cake. This is crucial if you make the cake in advance and require refrigeration or freezing. Even if you’re brave enough to bake the entire thing the day before, you’ll want at least one foam core (or store bought cake board) per tier to serve as your sturdy cake tier base.

An exacto knife is super for this.

Each layer of each tier received a foam core base and a healthy wrapping of seran wrap before they were stacked in the fridge. I baked nearly all layers on the Wednesday prior to the wedding which meant that the plastic wrap didn’t have to be terribly tight or thick, but if I were baking cakes a couple of weeks in advance (as I had originally intended) I would opt for at least three layers of wrapping and zero exposure of cake before freezing and finally moving to fridge five-seven or so days in advance.

The above was my stash as of last Wednesday, Thursday brought with it the baking of at least one more layer for each tier plus a whole lotta buttercream and ganache. Oops on that little corner peeking out.

See you all here tomorrow! Where the baked cake gets its delicious raspberry ganache filling (another to-die-for recipe), buttercream crumb coat and fondant shell.