Today, I will be showing you how I made this HUGE DIY picture canvas for cheap! Nothing warms my heart quite as much as when I can make a huge statement piece for a room using very little money.
I love what a statement this canvas makes on our wall. It is 3’x4′ big so you can’t miss it! I am creating a gallery wall around it that will be the perfect accent for this enormous picture. My little girl loves to look up and reach for the picture too. I think that by having this photo in our main living room area is a great way to remind us of what is really important in our lives. Our FAMILY! To make your own, you need…
*4 wood slats nailed together forming a frame. OR one ugly canvas (I will explain that one later!)
*Engineer’s print of your photo (mine is 3ft by 4 ft)
*Black duct tape
So, I told you I would explain the big, ugly canvas part. Here it goes…
My mom works at a home decor store. Sometimes, when things are broken past repair, they either throw them away, or give them to someone that can find a new use for them. When my mom told me she had some huge, ugly canvases that I could have for FREE, I jumped on the offer! I got three of these ugly things! Not only are the flowers plastered on the canvas, but there are also flowers made of real life leaves on this thing that were falling off. So ugly! I knew that I wanted to use only the frame of this canvas for my photo canvas, so I cut the ugly canvas off. If you don’t have an ugly canvas to work with just make a canvas frame by nailing wooden slats together.
I flipped the canvas on the other side and laid the picture on top of it to line it up just right. This is when I learned a lot of things NOT to do. Do NOT try to use Mod Podge on an engineer’s print. The paper is too thin and the picture will ripple. Do not try gluing the engineer’s print. It won’t stick.
Here is what I DID do. I took black Duck tape and I taped the print onto the canvas! I pulled the print really tight as I taped it and I am SHOCKED at how good it looks! You can’t even tell that it is Duck tape until you walk right up to it and look at the edges. It was so easy and looks really good with the black and white picture.
I hung it up and now I can enjoy my inexpensive, giant piece of art!
Paula
Friday 6th of September 2013
Hello! thank for this idea, it is fantastic! My only concern is what is a Engineer’s print? Sorry to ask this is the first time I hear something like that in photography and I was wondering how can you actually get one of those prints? I live in England and I google it but nothing came up.
I will appreciate your guidance or advice with this.
Thank you very much!
Kind Regards,
Paula
McKenzie
Friday 6th of September 2013
An Engineer's print is a print that you can get at an office supply store. They are prints that engineers will get for different blue prints and plans that they need printed. I'm not sure if they are available at office supplies in England, but I would imagine that they still use engineer prints there!
Lora @ Craftivity Designs
Wednesday 3rd of July 2013
Very cool! Thanks for the tips about the mod podge and glue. I've been wanting to try to make one of these big prints.
Steph @ Crafting in the Rain
Tuesday 2nd of July 2013
Wow, that original is a...gem...love the giant portrait!
Katy @ Lolly Linens
Sunday 30th of June 2013
You did good!! I love this, where do you get engineer prints made? Thank you for sharing.
McKenzie
Sunday 30th of June 2013
I got mine at Staples!
emily
Saturday 29th of June 2013
GREAT idea!! I love yours!!! Emily @ Nap-Time Creations