DIY Hanging Wall Quotes the Easy Way (Printable)

I’ve always been a budget shopper and a DIYer. No matter my budget, I actually prefer to shop at consignment sales for the kids (the clothes are actually more natural than new). And when it comes to decorating my house, I’ve never been one to spend hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on art.

Heck, my house is mostly decorated with canvas prints of family pictures and artistic sticks that we hang art from.

Don’t get me wrong, I have some friends who are into art and decorate their homes beautifully. I admire it, but I’ve never been great at decorating. I keep things simple … that way it actually happens!

DIY Hanging Wall Quotes

That’s why, when we recently moved, I was faced with a conundrum … an 18 foot blank wall. A wall that also happens to be the backdrop behind my desk, so it shows up in every video I record for the blog. I knew it needed something but couldn’t figure out exactly what.

Eventually, I decided I wanted that wall to showcase three of the quotes that give me the most inspiration in business and in life. (See my quotes at the bottom of this post.)

I looked at Etsy shops and art stores that would create custom wall quotes, but realized I could create the same type of art by just getting poster prints from Mixbook (under home decor > poster prints) and using free or inexpensive editing software like PicMonkey.

To create a scroll-like hanging quote art, I mounted 1 x 2 boards that I distressed naturally.

Wall Quotes: Supplies Needed

For each wall quote, I used:

• one 20 x 30 poster print of the quote (get it printed at any local photo place)
• two 22-inch 1 x 2 boards
• homemade wood distressing mixture
• staple gun and staples
• a few feet of twine
• two 1-inch screw eyes

How to Make Hanging Wall Quotes

1. Pick a quote and use a free or inexpensive service like PicMonkey to make the quote. Or, just download mine below.
2. Upload the picture to a service like Mixbook (or a local photo shop) and get a 20 x 30 photo print. Don’t want one this big? Print any size you want, and just adjust down the wood pieces to be two inches larger than the shorter end of the print.
3. Cut the 1 x 2 wood pieces to the correct size (1 inch longer than the short side of the poster). TIP: Don’t have power tools or don’t like to use them? Ask your home improvement store to cut them to the correct size for you. Most will do a couple cuts for free and may charge a small amount for additional cuts.
4. Distress the wood using this natural mixture.
5. Once the wood dries, staple the wood pieces to the top and bottom of the quote. I found it easiest to place the wood on the ground and place the quotes facing down on top. Then, I stapled through the back of the poster and into the wood. Note: If you’re making more than one quote that will hang in the same place, make sure the poster overlaps the wood the same amount on each one and that they all end up the same finished length.
6. Screw the screw eyes into the top of the top piece of wood. I placed the eyes about an inch from the edge of the poster.
7. Tie the twine to make a hanging piece of desired length.

Quotes I Used

These are the quotes I chose. If you want to use any of these, feel free to recreate them!

From Mother Teresa:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

From Teddy Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

From Mark Twain:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

This is a really easy way to create custom artwork for your own home, using famous quotes that have personal meaning for you.

Do you have a favorite quote or saying? Please share your favorite quotes below and why they speak to you!