Handmade Gifts for Men: Customized Quote Print

Handmade gifts are one of my favorite things to give at Christmas. I find that when I make something (or in a pinch, purchase something handmade), the gift has more meaning. I also come from a family of 9, which means purchasing individual gifts can get quite expensive!

While I find that there are hundreds of easy handmade project ideas for women out there, a lot of what I see for men I really can not imagine my husband or brothers ever using. So, for the past few years, I’ve been on a quest to find handmade gifts for men that they would actually want to use. As Christmas approaches, I’ll be sharing those ideas with you here!

 

One of the things my husband is known for is his funny insult quotes. If a quote is funny or witty, he will store it away for later use. He also is quite handy in the kitchen. When I found this quote from Carl Sagan, I knew it was the perfect quote for him:

“If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”

When choosing your quote, just think about something that would make the man/men in your life smile.

Handmade Gifts for Men: Customized Quote Print

Materials:

• Small canvas
• Acrylic paint
• Paintbrushes
• Cardstock paper
• Pencil
• Double stick tape
• Ruler
• Scissors

Step 1

First, paint the entire canvas with your base coat. I wanted our quote print to have a sort of vintage travel vibe, to match our home office theme, so I chose tan. Let the paint dry.

Step 2

Once the paint dries, draw horizontal lines across the surface of the canvas evenly spaced. Color in every other line with a second color. I chose white. Don’t worry about getting the stripes precisely in the lines. Let the second coat dry.

Step 3

While the paint is drying, work on the center picture. I chose a globe to match the universe theme.Choose a picture that goes along with your theme. I found a globe outline that I liked and printed onto yellow cardstock paper.

 Step 4

Paint your center picture with watered-down acrylic paint. This will make it look like the paint is part of the paper rather than sitting on top. I watered down the paint by dipping the brush into water, then dipping the very tip into the paint. It looked like watercolor paint as I was brushing it on.

 Step 5

When that dries, work on your quote letters. This is where it can get a bit tricky. If you have amazing handwriting, you can simply write the quote onto the canvas, but I do not. This is how I made the quote letters:

1. I typed the quote into Picmonkey onto a square about the same size as my canvas. I used a font that I thought would be easy to trace.
2. I printed the letters onto a piece of paper.
3. I cut out the letters and laid them on the surface of the canvas and traced them.
4. Finally, I painted the letters.

You could also use letter stickers and trace around them, which might be a little easier. You could also glue the printed letters to the canvas for a slightly different look.

 Step 6

When all the paint is dry, use double stick tape to stick your center image to the middle of the canvas. Add any additional embellishments that you want. Allow the canvas to dry for 24 hours before wrapping.

And that’s it! This project is actually quite simple to do and would make the perfect edition to any man’s desk or office.