1 Ugly Painting 2 Cute Crafts : Canvas Sign

 

Remember this little bad boy I got a yard sale? Remember Part One of our transformations? Are you ready for part 2?

Well, grab that canvas & lets start making our:

 

 

 

Along with your canvas you will need:

Sandpaper

Scrapbook paper (5-8 12x12 sheets)

Vinyl Letters

 (I have a Silhouette cutter that I cut my letters with, but you can buy vinyl letters in any craft store)

Mod Podge

Sponge brush

Black Spray Paint

 

Here is our canvas! You want to sand down all of those leafy trees & happy clouds so the canvas has a smooth{er} surface. No need to sand the picture away because you are going to cover it anyways.

 

Once sanded you will apply your scrapbook paper to the canvas. Put a thin layer of mod podge on the back of the paper to make it stick and then brush mod podge over the top to seal it to the canvas. Now here is where you are going to let your creative juices flow. I wanted a bright/hippie-ish vibe with mine so I stuck with a color theme & chose a few different patterned papers. I ripped those papers and layered them over each other {with the exception of the top & a slight crack that got left open, but it worked out just fine, so ...I'm just going to say that I planned it that way} I used a Mod Podge with an antique finish on it because I wanted to add a bit of shabby-chic/vintage with my bright/hippie look.

{TIP}If you want an antique look, but don't want to buy antique mod podge? Coffee stain it. Get an old cup of strong coffee and after you have applied your scrapbook paper paint on the old coffee to the degree of brownness {is that even a word?} you want.

{TIP} I would suggest that you cover the entire canvas with scrapbook paper. It was late at night for me and I had limited coordinating papers to work with so I left a boarder of canvas around my paper. Cover it all, don't leave a boarder. I will point out why later on in the post.

 

Measure your canvas & figure out how large you want your letters. I wanted "home" to be the biggest and "you" to be the next. Pull out the ruler & start making notes. If you are like me, you want to get it right the first time!

{TIP} I cut pieces of scrap paper to the size that I want to make sure everything will fit when gauging how large letters should be. You don't have to cut each and every letter. Squares in the sizes that you want work out fine for figuring out spacing & room.

{TIP} Use vinyl that you don't want/like/need anymore/mismatched colors/on sale - you will see why later on.

 

Apply your vinyl letters

 

{TIP} I like to apply letters or words starting with the top and then doing the bottom, leaving the middle for last. I find that helps me with my spacing. Same thing for the letters in the words. When applying the "YOU" I did the O first so I could use the space wisely with the Y & U.

 

 

Now you have your sign and as you can see I ran out of vinyl & had to use some other pieces I had on hand. It really doesn't matter because once you have it on a tarp or drop cloth you will......

 

Spray paint the whole thing black. Yep. Cover that baby up with black, black, black. I wish I had taken a picture of Mr. S when I told him I was taking it out to spray paint it! He didn't know what I was doing, but I'll show you the method to my madness

{TIP} Do this step at night. That way you can let it dry and air out for a nice long time instead of anxiously testing it to see if it's still tacky. Spray it. Sleep and wake up to a nice, dry & less stinky canvas in the morning. Be sure to keep it away from timed sprinklers, neighborhood cats & trees that are dropping leaves.

In the morning bring it in and start peeling that vinyl off {you use and throw away alot of vinyl in this project} Do you see the awesomeness underneath??

I'm really happy with the two triple toned effect I got by layering papers and accidentally leaving a gap for the original painting to show through. I don't even mind the spray paint that eeked underneath the letter. It gives it that vintage/hippie/shabby chic effect that I wanted.

Please note: by leaving the canvas border and even doing multiple layers of paper will make your canvas uneven when looked at up close...do you see it. So cover your entire canvas and if you are using multiple papers be aware it won't be even, but still look uniform with that black paint.

And when you peel it all off you are left with this......

 Your canvas sign! Love it! Cherish it! Show it off to everybody that comes to your house! I'm debating on how to hang it. Part of me wants to use those tacky wall cling things so it's just mod and hanging there. Another part of me wants to attach ribbon and hang it with that - any input would be most appreciated.

 

So happy to share this with you and I would be excited to see if any of you do it!

If you make a sign PLEASE brag about it and post it on our She Said Facebook wall so I can smother you with compliments!

 

Missed out on Part 1 of our Ugly Painting remodel? Check out what I did with frame HERE