Canvas Wall Hanging Makeover

Not too long ago, while shopping, I happened upon a huge canvas I thought would be perfect for my daughter’s room.  {We just rearranged her room and she needed something over her bed.} It was contemporary with a camera painted inside. {She wants to be a photographer.} As usual, it was more money than I was willing to pay. {I’m a tight wad!}  I ran across two canvases in the attic last week.  We used them as decoration for my daughter’s surf themed room several years ago.  I had a difficult time finding surf paraphernalia at the time; so I decided to make these very simple canvases using paint and 12×12 scrapbook paper {mod podge.}  Well, thanks to all my blogging friends, I have learned to re-purpose, shop at home or make over things I already own.  I decided I could re-use the canvases and make my own version of the canvas I saw at the store.  In addition, I determined I would surprise my daughter with the canvas as a gift for her birthday.  This was a great motivator to get the project done.

The first thing I did was tear off the 12×12 scrapbook paper.I tore off as much paper as I could.  Instead of getting frustrated, I finally decided I liked the dimension the stuck on paper would give to the painting.

Next, I sprayed on some white primer.

While the primer was drying I decided to work on the camera part of the painting/wall hanging.  Using some clip art on my computer, I printed out a camera.  I knew I wanted to split the camera between the two canvases.  So I used the banner print option.I also knew I wanted to use some very cute quilt square fabric we bought while we were in Iowa this summer to make the camera.  This meant I needed to make patterns for the pieces of the camera.  I pulled out my tracing paper and began tracing the camera.Next, I cut out the traced camera pieces to make my patterns.At first I used pins to hold my patterns onto the fabric.  I had difficulty with the pattern shifting around while I was cutting the fabric.  I switched to using my re-positionable scrapbook glue dots to hold the pattern onto the fabric.  It worked famously!

After the primer dried I took my print out of the camera and tried it out on the canvas to see if I liked the size, etc.I took the ‘master copy’ {the one you saw earlier on the primed canvas} of the camera and began placing the pieces onto it.

This is the right side of the camera.I decided to “antique” the edges to of the fabric to give it some depth.

I did this by using a makeup sponge with brown stamp ink and dobbing the edges to all the pieces of fabric I cut out.This is the end result before gluing the pieces onto the canvas.For my next step I used my new favorite paint…Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint in Old White.  I painted on two coats.  The end result made the canvases look brand new again!

At this point you can’t even see the paper that I couldn’t pull off in the beginnning.

I chose 3 colors to paint the background with.  These colors are both in the camera fabric and in her room’s drapes.  Again, I pulled out the makeup sponges, dabbed on some paint and dragged them across the white painted canvas.  It was at this time when the earlier stuck on paper layer created a dimension under the paint.  I had so much fun painting that I didn’t stop and take photos of the process.  {Sorry}  I really like how it looks!After the paint dried, I Mod Podged the fabric pieces onto the canvas.  I brushed two layers of Mod Podge just over the camera fabric pieces.  To finish it off, I hot glued a scrapbook/decorative brad {tore off the flaps} to where the camera button is. {You can barely see it, but it’s on the right panel at the top in the photo below}  This whole process took me about a week to complete.  This means I took snippets of time throughout each day to work on it.  It did not take me 5 days, 12 hours each day. LOL Thank goodness!

Here it is complete!Here they are installed over my daughter’s headboard.I can’t believe I did it!  Project complete…what do you think?

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I love a makeover,