DIY Canvas Photos

I have seen all over Pinterest these DIY Canvas Photos.  I have always thought they looked beautiful and wanted to try it.  So I finally did!  We have a curved stairwell and haven't put anything on it.  I wanted to do the boys pictures and I knew I wanted them huge.  While looking for pictures I ran across our last years Christmas photos...that was it.

I had purchased this dual pack of canvas at 18x24.  When I looked on all the sites for poster prints, they do 20x30, I knew I was going to have to cut some picture off.  On a couple of sites, they were going to charge me $24 a print and I had 3.  So I did it on Costco.com and was able to choose Sepia and my posters were ready next day to pick up for $9 each.

After I picked up my posters, I went back on to Pinterest...not realizing I should have printed them on paper.  Next time I might go to Staples and have them print it on paper...don't know if it would be cheaper.  This was time consuming, but well worth it because I did it!!!!!!

Supplies:

Canvas Value Pack - $11 for 2 at Joann's

Modge Podge

Foam Brushes

Paint Brush

Americana Acrylic Paint - Khaki Tan

Versa Magic Chalk - Jumbo Java

ExactoKnife

This is how I painted the canvas.  I did not want to use black, so I took my prints to Hobby Lobby and matched the paint.  Yes those are plastic bowls under there.  Worked Awesome!

After the paint was dry, I painted the whole canvas with Modge Podge and put my picture on.  After that dried, I used my exactoknife to cut off all those extra inches.  I used a Sanding Sponge to make my edges flush, when I did that, my borders turned white...aaaaggggghhhh!  So I ran up to the craft room and found some brown chalk.  I chalked all 4 sides.  Now I am wishing for black sides!

From lots of tutorials, they would just paint on the Modge Podge.  I did not want that look because my pictures were low resolution so I decided to try a sponging technique with a household sponge.  There were too many bubbles...so another trip to Hobby Lobby and a 40% off coupon I bought a Goat Hair Mop Round brush...worked amazing, yes there were still tiny bubbles, but I could go over them and they would pop.  I ended up painting two coats of Modge Podge to give it a really great texture.

I am trying to show you the texture...looks like canvas...ha ha...it worked!

Now, I am a crafter, I am so impatient.  I did not wait for the first coat to dry, so the black shirts look like they have white on them :(  If you are going to paint 2 coats...wait for the first to dry.

This is what I look at from my kitchen sink.  I absolutely love it.

This is just a great start to hang more :)