DIY Canvas!

Does anyone have a love for the HUGE canvases that photographers and other people show off on their facebook pages and websites, but CANNOT stand the price of them!? Well... me either. I am a teacher and a semi-new Beachbody coach, so I don't make the big bucks. But I have this beautiful family that I love to show off and I couldn't stand not to! So, what did I do? I started experimenting.

First, I did not get such a great turnout. I tried using thick insulation for that dramatic pop-out on the wall, and I wrapped the insulation with black fabric because it was on sale. NOT PRETTY. When the heater came on in the winter time, the glue on the insulation to fabric refused to stick and they looked like they started melting off of the wall.... It was not fun and they took forever to make. 

That's when I started using thin foam board. If it came thicker, it would be EXACTLY what I want. But I have to admit, these look pretty good :) 

Materials: 

picture

black foam board

spray adhesive

box cutters 

scissors

newspaper or something to lay board on

Step 1: Measure Your Picture 

I laid my picture on one of the corners and traced around it with box cutters. Don't dig too deep yet just in case your picture moved! 

Step 2: Start Cutting

Use your box cutters during this step, NOT SCISSORS. Scissors leave marks in the foam and it doesn't leave the prettier edge like you want showing. 

It's ok if you are having trouble cutting nicely, that's what your scissors are for later :) You might need to bend the board and cut down the harder side again. 

Step 3: Shave the loose pieces

I know you all are thinking, "you said the box cutters leave a smoother edge!" Trust me, they do. The scissors are good for cutting the roughness off without digging indentions into the foam. 

Step 4: Get sticky! 

I personally like to use the spray adhesive over mod podge only because the spray is thinner, you can't see it under the picture, and you can pick up the picture another time or two (carefully), if you don't square it up perfect the first time. ALWAYS ALWAYS start in the corner that you did not cut. those two sides will always be straight :) Flatten the picture down slowly so you don't have any waves in it.  I use a t-shirt to flatten it down so my fingers don't smudge, scratch, or leave gluey finger prints in the picture. 

VUAH LA! The picture I did cost me a total of $15. $12 Shipping for the picture and a $3 foam board. If you are not a member with Shutterfly.Com then you need to be! They are always having free prints for holidays, as well as free 16x20s!!!!! (Which I can never say no to, as you can tell). It is an awesome website. Enjoy!