Lotus Flower Cutout

When my husband and I moved into our new house, I wanted to add some personalized artwork to our walls. 

Side note:
Now, one thing you have to know about my life is that when I started dating my husband, I was adopted into a very unique new lifestyle. My Jewish husband grew up in a small hippie town in Iowa where they meditate as a community twice a day. So when we got married, we decided to have two ceremonies! One traditional one, and another Vedic (Indian) ceremony to honor his family's Hindu lifestyle (or Hin-Jew, as they so affectionately call it).

So when we moved into our new home, I wanted to incorporate lotus flowers in some of the artwork. Since I didn't yet know the color scheme of the walls, I decided to do a cutout on a blank canvas; which turned out amazingly!

Step 1: Find a canvas you love

I went with a smaller 8x10 canvas from Michael's.

Step 2: Find a lotus design you love

I spent a decent amount of time on the internet looking for different lotus flower designs. After a few hours, I gave up and decided to put on my creative pants and make my own! 

Step 3: Grab a pencil you love and draw your outlines

This part was a bit tricky. You have to make sure your petals have enough space between them, so that when you cut them out, the canvas is strong enough to not rip.

Step 4: Grab an X-acto knife you love and some cardboard

Now, I'm not crafty enough to have super fancy artsy things around, so here is what I did: grab a small cardboard box, or thick piece of cardboard, and place it under your canvas. Make sure it's thick enough to compensate for the depth of your frame.

Step 5: Cut (with love)!

Cut around the petals of your lotus flower, and make sure you're cutting the negative space you want to show through.

Step 6: Mount lovingly on your wall

Voila!