I’m usually a colour outside the lines type of gal, but when we started crafting with our xTool P2 laser, I thought it would be fun to try an easy paint by numbers! You don’t need to own a laser to do this project and there aren’t too many colours, so that makes it pretty simple to follow.

We found these wooden artist’s panels at a garage sale and I was going to buy just one for a dollar. But then the lady offered us ALL 22 of them for only $5, so we jumped at the chance! Who wouldn’t take advantage of such a great deal when you’re crafty like us?!

You don’t have to luck out on a garage sale; check your local dollar store to see what they have. After we created this project, we found this 12″ x 12″ artist’s panel at Dollarama! You can see our smaller garage sale find on top for comparison.

Twelve inches is a great size for an easy paint by numbers. But if you’re making this easy paint by numbers on a laser, check that the wood panel will fit your laser bed (it’s not problem for the xTool P2 Co2 Laser).

Watch this Video!

Barn Quilts

We’re taking inspiration for our easy paint by numbers from barns quilts in our local rural areas. If you don’t know what a barn quilt is, it’s simply a painted representation of actual fabric quilt blocks installed onto barns. As you can imagine, some are quite large and stunning! You can drive barn quilt trails in rural communities all across Canada and the United States to see these eye catching pieces of art on barns.

But our easy paint by numbers barn quilt won’t be hung on a barn. No siree! We’re going to craft one on a smaller scale with a laser to display in our home – not on it.

By the way, this is an idea we came up with ages ago when we showed you how to trace on an iPad. The project has since morphed into this easy paint by numbers.

Materials

• xTool P2 Co2 Laser
• Wooden Painting Panels (get them at the dollar store or a garage sale!)
• Frog Tape
• 1/2″ flat paint brush
• Variety of paint colours

Creative Craft Hop

It’s time for another Creative Craft blog hop! So if you are visiting from Blue Sky at Home welcome! Wasn’t Carol’s air dry clay project such a great way to transition to Fall decor?! At the very bottom of this post, we’ll be directing you to the next stop on this venture. But don’t forget to check out the other stops because you’ll find plenty more ideas. Be sure to drop back in throughout the week to visit them all!

How to Make an easy Paint by Numbers

Barn Quilt SVG

This project is just the tip of the iceberg of what you can do with a barn quilt. At the Laser Craft Fest on September 10-12th, I taught how to laser cut felt with this same barn quilt pattern! If you attended and picked up the free SVG, you can repurpose it and turn it into a paint by numbers instead!

Of course, you can also do this project the old fashioned way. Use graph paper and draw out your own barn quilt design with a pencil. Then, trace this onto the artist’s panel using carbon paper and number the areas you want to paint the same colour. Geometric patterns are easy; if you can draw a square, rectangle and triangle, you’re golden!

xTool XCS Software

To make this on a laser, import the SVG into xTool Creative Space (XCS). If you don’t have a laser, skip ahead.

Connect the device. Select the artwork on the canvas and give it a score function.

Then click anywhere else on the canvas and input the thickness (an aimed measure gave us 0.043). Click on material and enter the speed and power settings. You will have to experiment to determine what the best settings are your laser. However, you don’t have to be overly concerned with making the score line dark. You only need to be able to see it enough to tape the sections to paint. The one I painted was a power and speed of 4 and 50, but it was still too dark for my liking; I’ll have to test more!

Use the close view camera to position your artwork on the wood. Then click the green process button. Hit process again, then click the button on the xTool P2 laser to score.

I tried a few different settings and I think I still need to finesse it to come up with a score setting that’s not too dark or light. The numbers for some reason were still a little too dark on our last try, as you see below.

Paint Easy Paint by Numbers

Frog tape is your best friend to tape off an easy paint by numbers like this! Tip: occasionally when I use frog tape for painting furniture, I run a damp finger along the edge to seal it before painting. It’s just added insurance that you’ll get crisp lines without paint bleed!

Tape off each section, paint and allow to dry before moving onto the next section.

First I tried painting with Posca paint pens.

I started with a silver border, then peeled back the tape.

By the way, it helps to have a colour reference and legend of what colours the numbers represent right beside you as you paint.

While the silver Posca paint pen was great for the border, I found that it was too thin to cover the numbers.

After that, I switched over to chalk paint. But use whatever paint you have on hand, whether acrylic, house paint or chalk paint.

A 2″ flat paint brush is ideal for this size artwork (see the last picture in this section below). I let the paint dry (a hair dryer helps with that) and then do a second coat to hide the numbers.

You can see the difference in opacity between the paint (orange) and Posca pen (blue).

When I’m taping each section, I use the Frog Tape over and over – and you can use both sides too (just burnish it down well).

I leave the white sections for last.

These garage sale panels are pretty small. So to give the easy paint by numbers barn quit more substance, frame it in a shadow box and hang it.

Or display it as a shelf sitter.

I hope you enjoyed this easy paint by numbers DIY! If you love to paint, check out this acrylic pour painting project! Or check out our top 10 paint projects of the year if furniture and home decor is more your jam!

Pin Easy Paint by Numbers

Pinning is always welcome and appreciated.

Creative Craft Hop

Now it’s time to check out this DIY Brown Paper Maple Leaf Garland from Terrie at Decorate and More with Tip. When you’re done, please remember to visit these other amazing talents below:

1. Make a Pumpkin with Household Items
2. Trash To Treasure Tin Can
3. Easy DIY Beaded Wind Chime
4. How to Make Easy Leaf-Inspired Air Dry Clay Coasters
5. Easy Paint by Numbers (that’s us!)
6. DIY Brown Paper Maple Leaf Garland
7. Vintage Spice Bottle Wreath Upcycle