DIY Wall Canvases

I found a tutorial somewhere on Pinterest, once upon a time, about how to make your own photo canvases using blank canvases, photos, and Mod Podge, but I lost the link! Still, I remembered the gist of it. And when I came upon a display of super cheap canvases at the store, I decided to try it out! These packs were under $10 each at Wal-Mart-- so under $20 for 13 potential canvases!

Step one was to figure out what I wanted to do. I looked at the blank wall in our upstairs hallway and made my choices. Then I ordered the prints. 16x20 prints can be expensive, but I found them for just over $9 each on AdoramaPix. You have to pay for shipping (unless you live in New York City), but it was still cheaper than getting the prints from other places!

Next up, I painted the edges of the canvases black. I also painted a little extra, just in case the photos didn't cover it perfectly. I guess you could use any color here, but I like black... so there you go! This was just plain old acrylic paint-- the little bottles they sell in craft stores for less than a buck!

Then I had to wait a few days for my photo prints to arrive. I hate waiting! But I survived. In the meantime, I actually hung the (blank) canvases on the wall and got all the spacing figured out. I was so ready!

Once the prints arrived, the project literally took me less than ten minutes. First, I held the print up against the canvas and trimmed the excess. Then I slathered ModPodge onto the canvas, paying careful attention to the edges:

I laid the picture on the wet ModPodge very carefully, then flipped the canvas over so I could press down firmly and make sure it was sticking!

And... that was it! I thought about putting another layer of ModPodge on the top of the picture, but I also thought it looked just fine the way it was. The end result:

Now, a disclaimer: as someone who has owned and operated a professional photography studio (clearly not evident from these blog pics, ha!), I have a definite appreciation for REAL photo canvases. I have a number of them throughout the house. They were expensive, but beautiful! These are SO not the same! But for the price? They are awesome! And I still have two more 16x20s and five more 8x10s!