Faux Canvas Prints

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a photo project I was working on with 12x12 prints of my boys. I made them into "canvas" wall art and I LOVE how they turned out.

My supplies:

12x12 photos

12x12 boards

black spray paint

Mod Podge

Foam brush

Sand paper

Drill

Screw (to hang photo on)

I started with a 3/4" 2x2 birch plywood board and had the nice man at Lowes with the biggest saw I've ever seen (that scared the daylights out of the boys) cut it into four 12x12 squares.

Then I spray painted the edges black. I also wanted a little on the front of the board in case my photo didn't quite cover the entire surface.

Then I flipped the board over and (with some instruction from the hubs) drilled a hole in the back so it would hang flush against the wall. (Thanks for the tip, Dad!)

Then I got out my handy dandy Mod Podge and a foam brush and painted the surface of the wood. I set the photo on the board and smoothed it out. After it was dry, I sanded the edges of the photo to help make them more flush with the edge of the board. Then I took my foam brush and painted over the photo in a horizontal motion with more glue. Before the glue dried I painted in a vertical motion (without applying anymore glue this time). This gives the photo a great canvas texture.

Next time I do this project I will be more careful about how much glue gets on my brush. It's thicker in some places and didn't dry quite evenly. I'll also invest in a better quality foam brush. Mine started to fall apart when I was painting Liam's photo and left little black foam pieces in the glue.

 In other photo news, I've been looking for a cheap 5x7 frame for a couple of photos of Liam I had printed and yesterday Wal-Mart came through. It was a plain white frame with a white double mat on clearance. Not exactly what I was looking for (color wise), but the price agreed with me, so I bought it. Once I got home I covered the inner white mat with painters tape and got my black spray paint out...

And tada! I love it! (I also gave the smaller frame a little black spray paint makeover. It used to be a burgundy frame.) Want to know a secret? Guess what that little black frame of little 18month Javen is covering up?

Thermostat. It works for now, but I've got other plans on how I'm going to decoratively conceal the thermostat. Hopefully I can get to it before Christmas.

Of the thousands of photos I'm always snapping away, it's SO great to actually have a few printed out, framed and hanging in my home!

***A few of you have left some questions for me about this faux canvas project. I'll address them early next week in a new post. If anyone else has a question, feel free to ask away!***

Linking Up!
The House of Thrifty Decor