Items you will need:
Images
Canvas
White tissue paper
Regular Computer Paper
Sticky Glue Spray
Scotch Tape
Scissors or rotary cutter
News Paper
Black Acrylic Paint (or any color you choose)
Fabric (any color) or paint
Wood
Heavy Duty Stapler/Staples
Saw
Screws
Picture hangers
Foam Brushes
The very first thing you need for this project is images you love. Mine came from my sister in-law Amanda McDevitt from Shutterbug Photography. You can chose anything that speaks to you. It's all you Baby!!!
The Second thing you are going to need is canvas, I bought mine from Dollarama in the craft section, they were $1.25 each. You could also pick up canvas from any craft store. They will be more expensive but you will have more choice in sizes. I wanted to complete this project as frugally as possible so I took what the dollar store had. My canvas's are 8x10 in size. Witch ended up working perfectly since I barley had to cut the tissue paper.
Next you need to pick up white tissue paper. I picked up large white tissue paper used for wrapping gifts. Again I got mine at the dollar store in the party section. They had a ton of colors and varieties that had glitter. I thought my pictures had enough color and detail that I only needed the white for this project. I may play with other colors in the future.
I also picked up my black acrylic paint at the dollar store in the craft section, the one I went to had a ton of colors to choose from. Bonus they were only a $1.00 a piece, I must admit i picked up more then what I needed for this project. I may have gotten a bit carried away! Bonus they had foam brushes right above the paint, so I grabbed them. They make for a nicer finish and no brush strokes.
I didn't need to pick up scissors, news paper, scotch tape, screws,metal picture hangers, a stapler or the wood I used as Mr handyman already had these items. If you are lucky enough to have a handyman of your own then your as lucky as me! If not you could find someone to borrow these items from, no need to buy them for one project.
I did however decide to buy fabric to cover the background behind the canvases and a rotary cutter. I picked these items up at Walmart of all places. I had my doubt that I would find any fabric I would like at Walmart, as I have looked before and all they had was animal prints, or prints you would use for kids items. However I was pleasantly surprised to find solid colors. I chose the dark blue as I liked how it complemented my photographs. ( Hint take your finished canvases in your purse to Walmart and hold them up to the color you are thinking about, then you know for sure it will complement your pictures) The fabric was a grand total of $10.00 and I have enough to do a whole other canvas project. I also picked up the rotary cutter in the same isle for $5.00. You can use scissors but I found this tool to cut down on my work and the amount of accidents.
Finally I was able to get started, I did this project in my living room, but you can do it anywhere. Just make sure the area is ventilated.. I started out by putting news paper on the floor to protect our carpet from paint and the spray glue, next I opened the canvases and poured the black acrylic paint into a small container ( it washes out with hot water) I then got busy painting. You do have to be fairly careful with this step as you only need to paint the outer edges of the canvas. If you get black paint on the inside of the canvas you will be able to see it through the tissue paper. It will only take a few minutes for the paint to dry. You can leave it with just one coat but I wanted to make sure they were really covered so I did two.
While the paint is drying you can start working with the tissue paper, computer paper and printer. This is delicate work and takes some finesse. When you do it once you will gain more confidence and it will become a breeze. We have a brothers laser printer but I am pretty sure you can do this with any printer. I placed the paper onto the tissue paper and cut around it. I left a few inches all the way around to accommodate for any mistakes or rips. I used scotch tape to fold the tissue paper around the computer paper. I then placed it in our printer. Our printer takes the paper in upside down, just put it in the way your printer takes it.
VOILA I had a perfectly printed image for an 8x10 canvas. You would need to adapt if you are doing different sizes of canvases. ( I forgot to take pictures of this process)
Now your canvases should be dry, you should have your tissue paper printed images and be ready for the next step.
Now this is where other tutorials differ, most others call for the use of Mod Podge. I will save you the hassle. I tried it and it was an utter mess, the tissue paper ripped, and wrinkled. After picking the tissue paper off the canvas trying to salvage it, I knew I needed to come up with something else. My fix SPRAY GLUE!!! It is so convenient and easy to use. First you are going to use you rotary cutter to cut through the scotch tape that is holding the tissue paper onto the computer paper, you are then going to spray your canvas with spray glue, make sure you give it a good coating especially around the edges. Carefully line up your image to the canvas, I started in the middle and used circular motions to flatten the tissue paper. I found it easier if I did it quickly, less likely to get air bubbles or large creases.
You will end up with a few wrinkles in your image, this is normal. It is supposed to look rustic! If need be you can fold the extra tissue paper around the canvas and paint over the tissue paper. I had to do this with the first one, but then was able to cut the tissue paper to the exact size I needed. If you end up with a few mistakes or wrinkles you can take your foam brush and paint around the outside of the issue paper. It add to the rustic charm.
Once you have done all your canvases you can be finished, I went a couple of steps extra. I wanted my canvases to all hang together, We live in a town house and the neighbors always slam their door. Since our pictures are at the mercy of each slamming door, I wanted to hang them altogether. I was rummaging through our storage closet and found this piece of wood. Perfect for what I wanted I decided to paint it black. In the end it was o.k, but not quite what I wanted. Since making my jewelry holder I knew that fabric could be a good option.
I took the fabric and stapled it tightly onto the board, Mr Handyman helped me, he then took the canvases and screwed them to the board so they wont move,but can be taken down and changed out if we want to at some point.. I love the depth the fabric produced. Mr Handyman added frame hooks to the back and hung it on the wall.
In total this project took an entire afternoon, I did take a bunch of breaks and was working on another project at the same time. If you don't have any distractions you can probably get it done in 1.5-2 hours. I think it was very much worth the effort and something you can be proud to hang!
