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Thursday, June 7, 2012

DIY Canvas Portraits



I love the look of canvas portraits, don't you? 

Sometimes you can find pretty good deals, but even those good deals times three kids can really add up! I decided to find out a way to do it cheaper. 

$2.50 each, in fact! 

Here's how.


I started by taking a jump drive to Staples and asking for 8 1/2 x 11" color copies of my high resolution images on card stock for 98 cents each.


Then I went to Michael's and bought a 10-pack of 8 x 10 canvasses for $25 on sale for $20 plus my 20% off coupon which means I really paid $16. $1.60 each isn't bad!


Next I painted the canvasses with white paint to act as glue. Mod podge would be better, but I didn't have any. I knew the paint would work as glue because of this project


I had already trimmed the white edges off the pictures--don't bother! Just try to center the picture on the canvas because you'll have to trim it down and you don't want to cut off too much of your kiddo's head!


Press and smooth out the back side of the canvas.


I was worried about the card stock wrinkling, so I weighed it down with books in the middle and left it overnight. 


The next day I trimmed the edges off the card stock with a razor--I'm fancy like that! I'm sure an exacto knife would do the trick.


Then I went over the edges with a fine-grit sandpaper. You could paint the edges of your canvas if you want, but I like the white with the bright colors.


To really protect your canvasses, you could paint on another layer of mod podge over the top, or polycrylic. I haven't done that yet, but I plan to! 


Here you can see that it did wrinkle a little, but it's only noticeable from a certain angle.


I love my new canvas portraits, and coming in at $2.50 each, I'll be giving a set to the boys' grandpa for Father's Day!

Have a great day!
 




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14 comments:

  1. LOVE! I actually have some 8 x 10 canvases (sp?) at home from another project, so I essentially have no excuse not to try this! Thanks for the inspiration, you're better than Pinterest :-)

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  2. Do you know what type of printer they used to print on the cardstock? Laser or Inkjet?

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  3. Great job. Did you know you can buy canvas like paper for your ink jet printer (that is if your printer is an ink jet). I don't know if they make it for laser printers. But you could print your pictures on it and then mount it.

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  4. How cute, Ellie. Their granddad will be thrilled to get a copy of those for father's day. xo Diana

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  5. Came over from Rustic restorations to see your portraits. great job - i love the way you styled the shelf.

    Distressed Donna Down Home

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  6. What a great idea! They look really good! Thank you for coming by and linking up to Rustic Restorations Weekend.

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  7. This is brilliant! And using paint as glue?? LOVE! Great job! New follower!
    XO, Barbara
    http://chase-thestar.blogspot.com/

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  8. Love this idea! So simple and easy to do. I'm glad to know that I should use card stock instead of just regular paper. I just happen to already have a couple of canvases in my stash...

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  9. These turned out perfect! I love making them too! Make me SMILE! I hope you have a GREAT week!!!

    XO, Aimee

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  10. These turned out perfect! I love making them too! Make me SMILE! I hope you have a GREAT week!!!

    XO, Aimee

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  11. These look great. They would make great gifts.

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  12. wow, how creative (and cheap!) love it!

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  13. Love this! Thank you so much for sharing! Found you via DO!

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  14. Those are pictures of your kids that you keep forever.

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