The Canvas Photo Art Experiment

Acrylic craft paint, a 16x20 watercolor canvas, glue, water, and printed picture was used.

 I really love having nice photos printed out on canvas, but it can be a bit pricey. We have a few prints in our home, one was gifted to use and another I was able to snag with a promocode, so it was super cheap. I had seen various pins on Pinterest showing you how you could do photo transfer at home. Some seemed really complex and used materials that I didn't have readily available. Other pins I found seemed super easy. I went for the easiest route possible. In this project, you don't actually transfer an image. In reality, you are just decoupaging a print onto a canvas. It doesn't have the exact look of the canvas because once the paper is glued to the surface, you no longer see the texture of the canvas. If you really want to the look of canvas, you should try another technique. I just wanted to add another nice bit of wall art to the master bedroom. SO, I really didn't mind if this looked perfect or not.

"Hey, that's not yogurt..."

In the original post that I used to try this out, they used matte Mod Podge. I love Mod Podge, I used to decoupage my but off back in the day. These days, though I have little use for Mod Podge, so rather than investing in a large jar that I would never use. I decided to make my own. I followed a recipe that I found online, 3 parts white school glue to one part water. This was very economical, I was able to find a large bottle of glue for $0.50. I think next time, I will just buy the real Mod Podge at the Dollar Tree. That way, I will use the right amount, not waste much if any, and have the right consistency for my project.

I made this while watching Beauty and the Beast on Netflix. It was a late night.

I wish I could find the original post that I found this craft on, but I deleted it from my project list. It can be found on Pinterest, though. Just type in the search bar, "DIY Canvas Photo" and you'll find it, it's the article that uses Mod Podge. (I just did a search on Pinterest in an effort to find it. I can't remember which one I used, but there's several posted and they likely use the same technique).

I sort of followed the original tutorial that I had found but deviated once it began to take a life of its own. I wish that I had decoupaged the image first and then painted the canvas. I think that I had also painted the entire canvas, which is why the image came out darker. Had I adhered the image on first and painted around it, I think it would have looked cleaner. Also, I think it would have been better if I had printed the image out a day ahead of time so that the ink could dry better and I could have used a sturdier paper. I had trouble lining the picture perfectly on the canvas without damaging the paper. Once I began to add the glue mixture the image bled a bit and the paper became very fragile. Once I had the picture where I wanted it, I printed out our wedding vows and glued them on top of the photo. Then, I added more paint on the sides on top of the image and once that dried, I smoothed one more layer of glue on top. In the end, I like the way this came out; it looked less like a canvas print and more like an enlarged bit of scrapbook art. Although it wasn't what I had envisioned, it is what it became and I like it. This was neither a Pinterest Hack nor a Fail, it became another thing entirely and that is okay with me. I now have this hanging in the bedroom and it looks great! So, the next time you try a Pinterest craft and it doesn't quite work as planned, just roll with it and see what comes out instead. it's a lot less frustrating that way. Until Next time~ Toodahloo!