Chevron Fail And Then Some Success!

I am in love with the chevron print! It's all over the blogosphere and I just love it :) I have a feeling it will be on its way out soon, but for now it's here and it's awesome! And it just so happened that I needed some art on the walls of our dining room! Yaaaaay! Chevron!

So off to Wally World I went and picked up two 16"x20" canvases! And I started by trying to make the pattern myself with a ruler and a pencil...that was just a waste of time let me tell ya! Then I found this stencil online! I highly recommend using a stencil!! Anywho, the colors in our dining room are green and brown so I got a tan color and a green (technically they were called "Latte" and "Fresh Cut Grass"). Then I used the stencil, taped where I drew my lines with a pencil, painted, and painted a second coat. I was so excited to be done (because the whole taping thing was not really my idea of a good time...it was soooo tedious!) and when I took it into the dining room and showed Blake, here's what it looked like:

Aside from the paint that bled at random places under the tape, the green was a bit too "green grass" and not enough "mossy green." So defeated me went back to the drawing board. Luckily I only used one of my canvases that I got from WalMart. Although I did paint the background color that dark tan, which we also didn't like. Sad face.

So off to Hobby Lobby I went in search of the perfect mossy green, and wouldn't you know it! They had a green there called "Forest Moss" how perfect! I also picked up "Vintage White" that was almost white, but had just enough tan in it that it wouldn't look weird against the tan walls. And I did the same thing. Stencil with a pencil (that rhymed!!), tape, paint, and paint the second coat. Here's what it looked like:

Better green, but that dang paint still seeped under the tape again! And it made it look not so sleek and smooth like chevron is supposed to look. But I was determined to not tape this blasted thing again, so I got a small brush and just carefully painted around the edges. And here's how it turned out:

Still a little splotchy in places, but from far away you can't really tell :) And here's the green next to the curtains!

 I'm definitely loving this green and vintage white waaaay better! But I'll let you decide! (disregard my failed attempt at holding up a canvas while taking a picture of it...)

Fresh Green Grass

Forest Moss

I'll be actually hanging the new ones up once I finish the second canvas (I'm telling you guys, this tape is going to be the death of me!! lol)

Which do you guys like better? Has this ever happened to you? You get through slaving away at a project only to realize your fantastic project isn't so fantastic next to the rest of your fantastic decor!