DIY Photo Canvas Art–Make your picture look like a million bucks

I love the look of mounted pictures, there is just something about how the look on the wall; simple, yet elegant but very pricy. I researched for month now the price on a canvas mounted picture. Most of them start at $29.99 plus shipping for one 8×10 picture; that’s just not in my budget and honestly, I don’t want to pay that kind of money for ONE picture. I knew there had to be a better and cheaper way to achieve the same look but for a fraction of the price.

So, sit on tight and check out what I came up with, this is such a simple DIY tutorial that will never ever make you spend $30 or more on one picture…..

This is what you need:

• 1 Art Canvas of your choice, I love the 8×10’s and up; they always look great and give the best impression on my wall. I’ve done a few 5×7 and even 4×6’s but didn’t like them nearly as much as the 8×10’s; price wise there is really only a few cents different. But it’s your choice, all sizes work
• Mod Podge – I used Matte but the Gloss would work as well
• Sponge brushes ( the cheap ones are just fine)
• 1 small, very small bottle of acrylic paint, I love to choose black, that always gives it a better dimension, but any color of your choice will be fine
• 1 page scrapbook paper, design of your choice. I like to stick to the black and white theme, again, gives it more dimension.
• 1 picture of your choice to match the size of your canvas; black and white picture or color, but I highly recommend you order them at your favorite photo store like Walgreens, CVS, Snapfish etc… the home printed ones smear, the “Store” bought pictures don’t.

Step 1:

• Paint all the edges black (or in the paint color you choose); less paint is more and it doesn’t have to look pretty….just cover all the edges, if you like to have some of the white canvas shine through that will be fine as well….. let dry ( I used food cans to stand them on the table to dry).

Step2:

• Cut your scrapbook paper into .5 or 1 inch strips; depending on what width your canvas edges are.
• Brush the edges with Mod Podge, put a strip of Scrapbook paper on the edge and brush with Mod Podge again; it will be white, but dries Clear. Don’t worry about any wrinkles, it all will work out :0).

Step3:

• Cut your picture to size, most are a bit bigger then your canvas
• Put Mod Podge on the back of your picture
• Put Mod Podge on the Canvas

Step4:

• Put the picture onto the canvas
• press down with your fingers (remember the front of the picture doesn’t have Mod Podge yet…lol)
• once the picture is all pressed down nicely; add a nice thick coat of Mod Podge all over the picture; if you leave paintbrush strokes in different directions, you will get a nice “clear” design, that will shimmer through in certain light; if you swirl it, you will get little swirls etc… either way, the heavy thick, white Mod Podge will dry CLEAR!!
• Let the picture dry, overnight is best or till it’s “dry” to the touch…..

Voila… this is what some of mine look like …. aren’t they super cool and super easy… they also would make great gifts for Christmas or Birthday, grandparents, Aunts and even teachers would love to have a personalized Canvas print.

I just love the way they turned out and can’t get enough… I wanted to give you a price breakdown real quick so you see how much cheaper 20 minute DIY time can be over a store bought Photo Canvas.

I made 4 pictures at a time, since Michaels had the Canvas 2 per pack and BOGO (keep an eye out they have that every other week or so, you may find them cheaper elsewhere, too)….

4 Art Canvas 8×10 from Michaels $5.99/4
4 8×10 pictures printed at Walmart $11.36 ($2.84 each, you may find better deals elsewhere)
1 bottle Acrylic paint (will last for millions of pictures) $0.89
1 Bottle Mod Podge (I already had one on Hand, runs about $4 and will last forever)
1 scrapbook page  $0.59
1 foam brush $0.49

Total for 4 8×10 Personalized, homemade Canvas prints are ……..$23.32 that’s $5.83 per Canvas and you will have paint & Mod Podge leftovers for your next round of pictures….!!! Now compare that to a $29.99 per picture price tag… HUGE saving!!!!

Would love to hear if you’ve made any of your own or what DIY ideas have saved you a bundle.

Happy DIY’ing …..