Letters on a Canvas

When my daughter was born I wanted to do something really special in the nursery, we didn't really have a "theme" picked out and we kind of wanted to keep it simple.  Therefore I searched and searched online for ideas and finally came across a tree mural placed on a wall, and thought "oh I can do that," and started drawing, tracing and painting. This was the final product:

If anybody would like I could list the steps taken but this post is about a canvas idea that I got from pinterest (I did skip the fabric step) where I used the leftover paint from the tree to make a cute canvas. 

 

Materials Needed:

• Canvas
• Printer
• Contact Paper
• Xacto Knife
• Acrylic Paint
• Paint Brushes

The first thing I did was print out the letters, after printed I played with the enlargement feature to print out the letters to a good size.  Then I placed contact paper over the printed sheet of paper and used and Xacto knife to cut the letters out.



The same idea from a different project.
 

The next thing I did was place the letters on the canvas where I wanted them, then removed the backing and stuck them onto the canvas.  Once then were placed well I placed a black garbage bag on the floor, because I had my daughter help me and wanted to attempt to keep the mess to a minimum.  I placed the three paints (red, pink and purple) into cups and had three different brushes (to help my daughter to keep from mixing the paints before they made it to the canvas).  She helped me spread out the paints onto the canvas so there was no more white spots. 

Basically we used simple up and down strokes to cover the canvas and try to blend the paints. Once the canvas was dry I used the Xacto knife to help remove the letters off of the canvas.  Yes, some of the paint did leak under the letters but it simply adds character and shows its homemade. 

I felt that it needed something added to it so I took out the white acrylic paint and had Brianna dip her hands into the paint and made cute little handprints at the top of the canvas. And here is the final project:

I am sure that one day we will either move or need to paint over the tree therefore my intentions are to place a picture of the tree onto a canvas.  Then in her room place this finished handprint canvas on the wall next to the second canvas with a picture of the tree together.  I will remember to show how I get the picture of the tree onto the canvas when it gets done. 

Thanks for stopping by!