DIY Dorm Decor: Wall Art Quote

By Jessica Mahmoud on August 1, 2015

As a college resident for the first time in the fall, one of the things I’m excited about is decorating my dorm room. After much thought of how I want to decorate my wall (because you usually only get one), I decided on a quote.

I decided to do this by cutting out letters from old magazines. I think it’s a very unique idea in comparison to store-bought posters.

Check out this tutorial if you choose to do the same thing.

1. Choose the words or quote you want to create.

As you’ll notice, I chose “Do everything, regret nothing.” I had a whole list of ideas beforehand that I eventually narrowed down and made my final decision from. It was difficult but it really depends on what message you want to send out to the people who come in your room. You also don’t want something too long because there is only so much room on your dorm room wall, and usually, it’s not too much.

So even though I like the quote, “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space,” it’s probably too long for this project. Try going on Pinterest, Tumblr, and even just Google for ideas. You can do something like, “You’re beautiful, don’t forget that” or just something motivational like mine.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be a quote. You can even just put your name or one word like “Inspire.” The choice is yours!

2. Find some old magazines.

I think everyone has at least a few old magazines. I’m guilty of keeping at least a year’s worth for projects like this. Although I can’t say I read them on rainy days, old magazines come in handy for collages and craft projects. If you don’t have any, you could always print some cool pages from the internet and use those. Or, if you’re really set on magazines, try the nearby recycling center, or ask a friend. Usually even though people have them, they don’t mind giving them up, or at least a few pages.

3. Rip out cool pages.

This is the fun part. Feel free to rip out more than you need to give yourself options. Don’t worry too much about the letters right now. Try to rip out pages that are mostly pictures, not full articles because you’re not going to be reading them once you cut them into letters. However, this is a great time to also rip out articles you want to read or just pages you like and want to keep on hand.

Take your time with this step.

4. Get your supplies together.

This project is really great because you don’t need a lot for it. Even these supplies (except the scissors) aren’t necessary. However, I found it’s best to use something to draw out the letters before cutting them. Metallic markers are great because they show up on all colors, including black. The only problem with those is that they don’t always rub off so if you mess up, it stays. But it’s really not that big of a deal for wall art.

Another option is to use pencil. Additionally, since you’re going to have tons of scraps, I suggest having a small container to stay clean instead of having them all over your floor or table. It’ll make cleaning up a lot faster in the end.

5. Start cutting the letters.

I’ll show the final product at the end of this article, but here’s some letter examples. It’s easy if you find pages that have pictures in squares, especially because collage pages are already cool. They make it easy to measure out even lines for letters like E, T, H, and N. For O, I suggest finding one model and just cutting out the middle to have their face show at the top.

When cutting the letters, if you reuse them, you can always carefully retrace them to make them the same. I did all capital, but you have the option of using lowercase too. I decided to make most of my letters the full magazine page length, but I think it looks cool that not all of them are the same size. Try to make room to lay out your letters as you make them to get a good idea of what the end result will look like. This is the longest part of the project.

6. Keep them safe.

Magazine pages are very fragile in that they rip very easily. I’m planning on laminating mine to make them stronger. If you’re not hanging them right away, keep them safe in a box or protector like this. You can also just stash them in a drawer. I just don’t suggest keeping them out in the open where they can easily get bent, folded, or lost.

If you’re still looking for wall art ideas for your dorm, or just your bedroom now, I suggest you try this one out. It’s unique, customizable, and also very inexpensive. I hope this inspired you to do some DIY projects with your time off, and this tutorial helps you out!

Did you try this idea out? I’d love to see it! Post a picture in the comments below!

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