I can't tell you how many people have asked me how I wrote the quotes on the painter's canvas drop cloth for the
Jane Austen inspired window display. I am afraid you won't be quite so impressed when you hear just how easy it is to do! For me, the most difficult part was figuring the logistics of getting what I wanted, the size I needed, printed onto paper. I am not a computer whiz. I hope I can explain this clearly for you!
The font I used for my Jane Austen quotes was a free download from
www.dafont.com. I was so excited to find this font, based on Jane Austen's own handwriting! I just love it! There are so many fabulous fonts on this site. A friend of mine who is a graphics designer turned me onto it and I have to admit that I have spent a little too much time perusing all of the great options. Downloading fonts from this site to your computer can be a little tricky, unless you're technologically minded (not me!) Look around the site though and you will find detailed instructions for your specific computer. Of course you can also just use a font that you already have!
The program I used to type up my quotes is "Paint." I think everyone has this program on their computer. It seems to come standard, at least with PCs. So, I typed up my Jane Austen quote, just the way I wanted it, in her hand written script in the "Paint" program. I will describe the next few steps the way they looked with the version of "Paint" that I have. If you have a different version, it may look a little different but I think you should still be able to find the right tabs to make it work.
1. Click on the far left drop-down box (mine doesn't have a title, just an image that looks like a page of paper with lines on it).
2. Go down to "Print" and move your mouse over to the right where another menu pops up with the options: print, page setup, and print preview. Choose "Page Setup."
3. Select "Fit to" and enter the number of pages you want your quote to print on. For example 3 and 2 will print your quote onto 6 pages. You may have to play with this a bit before you get it just how you want it.
4. After you select "okay," the window will go away. You will then go back up to that drop down menu and select "print." Make sure you print "all pages." Keep in mind that some of your pages will probably be blank. When you lay out your quote, you will see why!
I'd like to mention here that I once read about a website that does all of this work for you for free (if I understood it correctly). I cannot seem to remember what the site was called or figure out where to find it, but if you know and would be kind enough to share it with me, I will post it here!
Once I had my quote printed the way I wanted, I had to cut some of the margins with my paper cutter in order line up the words just right. I taped the pages together and then taped the whole quote up onto my giant light box (a.k.a. sliding glass door!)
Next, I taped the drop cloth directly over top of the quote using masking tape. It really helps to have an extra set of hands here if you're doing a larger transfer, and unless you have a huge picture window, you may have to do one half at a time, which is tricky. I recommend keeping your quotes small enough to fit in your window, as I did in the photo above. This will make your life much easier! Now, as long as there is sufficient light shining through your window (this doesn't work in the evening or on a really dark, cloudy day...trust me, I tried!) you should be able to see the script through your drop cloth really well. I used a black permanent marker to copy the quote and wrote it right there on my window. I tested a few times to make sure the marker wasn't going to bleed through onto the glass, and it didn't. I recommend you test it out as well with the fabric you're using. I know you don't want permanent marker on your windows! If you're nervous about it, or are using a lighter weight fabric, you can trace the words in pencil, take your fabric down and then go over it with your permanent marker on another surface (one that you don't mind marking up or that is lined with something to stop the bleed through).
There you have it! I really enjoyed writing out these quotes and have some other fun ideas for using my big sliding glass door light box! I hope you'll give it a try! I'd love to see what you do with this project idea! The possibilities are endless!
Thank you for your sweet visit today! I hope you are having a fabulous week!
Best Wishes and Blessings,
Amanda
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