DIY: Canvas Art

A friend of mine is moving into a new apartment so I made her a housewarming gift! Her job requires a lot of creativity so I thought this would be a nice addition to her room. This project was super easy and took only one night to complete (with the help of my sister). It looks so good against my blackboard wall :( Must make one for myself too.

First things first, off to the craft store! We bought a 18x18 inch stretched canvas, Mod Podge, a bottle of regular craft glue, and a sponge applicator. I think we paid around...RM50 total? Mod Podge is a little expensive and I couldn't find my last bottle so I had to get a new one. If you have glue and Mod Podge already though then the canvases are a fair price. Our large one cost probably RM26 +-.

I was paranoid about using pencil on the canvas in case it wouldn't rub off so I drew out my letters on artblock first, cut them out and then arranged them on the canvas. When I was happy with the positions I stuck each letter down with a layer of Mod Podge. Somehow I still wasn't careful enough and if you look closely you'll see that it's slightly off-center and tilted. Boo. Next time I'll use a ruler.

Once the artblock guides are stuck down its just a matter of sticking layer upon layer of newspaper (or whatever filler you have around) until you get to the thickness desired. You can also just start with the book shreds but I wasn't sure at first if I wanted to use book pages or magazine pages so I did something neutral to fill it out. 

At this stage, I use the cheaper regular craft glue. Shred - Glue - Stick - Repeat.

How many layers of paper you do depends on the thickness you want. I wanted a little 3-D effect but got lazy after a while so I think we ended up doing three layers of newspaper and two layers of book shreds. If you want a more embossed look then more layers, MORE LAYERRRRSSS I SAY!

Once the last layer of book shreds was done, I covered everything in a layer of Mod Podge using the sponge applicator. The photo above was taken just after and you can see that it's glossy and the pages have a white-ish coat over them. I made sure to coat the edges too so that all the letters are extra secure and sealed in. 

Overnight, the whole thing hardens and dries clear.

My sister says that there's no order in decoupage but I disagree. Certain words or fonts you can pick out and place strategically for effect. Also, I found that it looked much more cohesive when I worked from one corner to another instead of randomly pasting all over and then going to patch the holes later.

Pretty...

This project was not only easy to do, it can be made so many different ways. My sister and I had so many ideas, like using our old Archie comics and Harry Potter books. In the end we decided against ripping apart good books though so we used some old old cheesy horror/sci fi books instead. Next time.

We bought our supplies at Art Friend. They have one of the largest craft supplies selections in KL.

Art Friend
Lot T-213, Level 3
The Gardens, Mid Valley
Opening Hours: 10am - 10pm
Tel: 03- 2284 7777