DIY Gallery Style Picture Canvas

Last weekend, a good friend of ours and professional photographer of Robert G. Films took some gorgeous family photos of us in our back yard.  As soon as he sent some of the sneak peek photos to us, I was in LOVE with one in particular. My husband and I both couldn't stop looking at it. 

Isn't it awesome? It's so us.  Trying to keep the little one from squeezing the dog too hard, the dog trying to run away but secretly enjoying it, and mom and dad trying to absorb and cherish the moment. Ok. Even if you don't love it as much as I do, you are going to love what I tell you next.  I paid about $30 total for the 2 ft x 3 ft canvas that is sitting on top of my bookshelf in the picture.  How?  I did it myself, of course. After researching a lot of different ways to do this, I came up with the best way for me and the way my mind works.  I was super nervous about this project because I didn't want to ruin my beautiful picture.  However, it truly was one of the most simple DIY projects I've ever done.

Want to make one of your own? Here is what you will need:

• a gallery style canvas
• an engineer's print of your high res photo
• spray adhesive (I used Elmer's multipurpose)
• exacto knife
• black acrylic craft paint
• small sponge brush

Here's what I did and what you will need to do to get similar results:

I took my cd of high res photos to Staples and asked them for an engineer's copy of my photo.  An engineer's copy is a black and white image printed on large copy paper (think architect's blueprint). The girl told me she could make it any size I wanted.  I opted to print it at 26 x 38 inches.  That way, it was a little bit bigger than the 24 x 36 inch canvas I got for 60% off at Joann's ($20).  My engineer's print was only $6.99!

Once home,  I cut off the excess white border around the picture. Then, I took the canvas and the picture and found the center points of each and put little tick marks on the canvas edge and on the printed picture in pencil.  I did this for all four edges of the picture and canvas. Don't worry about the tick marks, they were covered up or cut off later.

For this next part, I needed more space and somewhere I could use my spray adhesive, so I moved everything to the basement.  Making sure the picture was level and centered (by matching up the tick marks), I started in the center of the picture and pulled the print back, sprayed a generous amount of spray adhesive on the canvas,  and smoothed the picture over the canvas.  I repeated this every few inches until that half was mounted and then moved on to the other half and repeated the same process.

This step was the scariest because I thought there might be air bubbles or I would mount it crooked.  It was WAY easier than I thought.  No problems whatsoever. The most important thing about this step is to make sure you get the edges adhered really well.

Next, I let the canvas sit and dry for an hour.  Once dry, I took it back upstairs and used my exacto knife to trim the edges where the paper was hanging over the canvas.  Remember, I had it printed a little larger than the canvas surface.  I used my rotary mat to cut on so I wouldn't damage the cutting surface (very important when using an exacto knife).

Finally, I took a sponge brush and some black craft paint and painted the edges of the canvas black. This step wasn't completely necessary, but it made the photo really pop and gave it some depth.

That's it! Try it out!

Note: I could have chosen to apply Mod Podge over the entire thing, but that seemed unnecessary and a little tricky.  Mod Podge doesn't do so well with thinner paper sometimes (in my experience).  I didn't want any bubbling.  It looks beautiful just the way it is.  When I hosted the birthday bash this past weekend, everyone commented on the canvas and how striking and beautiful it was.  Once I told them I did it myself, they were truly impressed and amazed at the results.  Think if I would have ordered this size photo canvas! It probably would have cost me a couple hundred dollars. 

As Christmas is approaching, I wanted to mention that these would make great gifts for family members!  Maybe friends and family members might not want a 2ft x 3ft photo canvas of you, but a smaller size would be a great gift.

Much
Easier Than I Thought!

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