I’m as addicted to Pinterest as anyone; have you seen that funny pin going around saying something like “I’m just going to look at a few things on Pinterest before bed, and WHAM! It’s 4 hours later!”….ya, that’s me. I have to restrict bringing my phone up to bed with me because once that Pinterest app is open, I can’t seem to control myself.
One of the things I noticed is DIY canvas pictures….and have loved them all! But then I read the instructions and was not happy with the complicated instructions or the time it requires to take.
Yet, I really wanted to do something like this for my home. I had recently done up some really fun family Halloween pictures and had them printed. Then I headed to my local AC Moore to pick up some supplies. I kept this very basic, and even used some of my very neglected scrapbooking paper to save costs.
- Nap Time Quasi Canvas Picture Supplies
- Flat canvas in 5x7 and 8x10 sizes
- Scrapbook paper
- Mod Podge ( I used matte finish, but holy moly, there are so many of these finishes to pick from! Even glitter finishes! )
- Several paint sponges
- One broken paint sponge (you'll see why below)
- Double sided tape
- Ribbon
- Glue, preferably a superglue
- Pictures, of course!!
Now, trust me, this takes a very short time to do. My blog on how to do this and all my rambling commentary will take longer to read than for you to actually put this together. I believe it took me about 20 minutes total, not including the drying time. I slathered the Mod Podge on thick so I let it dry for about 6 hours, and did the final detail before I went to bed that night.
So first begin planning how each canvas will be decorated; nothing worse than spreading Mod Podge and then not liking what you've done. I was planning a few pics to be placed over the scrapbook paper, and some pics to just be placed directly onto canvas backings.
Center the canvas right side down onto the back of the paper. Double sided tape gives a flat and hidden way to keep the paper from slipping on the canvas. It doesn't take much; I just placed a 1 inch piece near the corners.
Next, fold back two sides of the paper (see the supply picture). Then fold the remaining two sides like you would wrap a present! Again, I used double sided tape to secure everything.
Now you are ready to position your pictures on the front. Again, a little double sided tape to hold the pictures down smoothly at the corners.
It's now ready for Mod Podge! And, here is why I use a broken sponge brush. Instead of getting my hands covered in Mod Podge, I can easily move and hold the canvas in place while brushing on the Mod Podge with a regular sponge brush.
And here is my pictures slathered and drying while I go do something else! Which for me, was Mod Podge my other pictures directly on the canvas.
The last thing to do once the Mod Podge has dried is adding the ribbon to hang your lovely creations! All I did was cut 6-8 inch strips of ribbon, glue each end to the back and that was it.
Mod Podge the blank canvas, place your picture over it, smooth it out flat so no air bubbles behind pic, Mod Podge over picture'.viola!
And here are the finished products:
- Use fabric instead of paper.
- Embossed papers for a textured effect.
- Decoupage the canvas with multiple papers, especially for a shabby chic look.
- Trim pictures with some fancy scrapbooking scissors.
- Paint the canvas with acrylic paints.
- Make a large canvas collage of themed pictures.
- Get creative with the Mod Podge (I've been thinking about what I could do with the glitter version!!).