Sunday, June 15, 2014

Repurposed Canvas Art on a Budget

We have a new house which means time for new projects!

A shower curtain at a local store caught my attention the other day. I wanted to get a new curtain for the spare bathroom and when it caught my eye I figured it would be a good idea to go ahead and get it. When I got home and took it out of the package I realized I liked the print so much I couldn't put it in the spare bathroom where I wouldn't see it much. The feel of the fabric reminded me of canvas and I got an idea. Why not make it a picture for the large wall in the entryway?

 
The first step was making a canvas frame. Kyle and I took a trip to the lumber yard to pick up wood to make the canvas frame. We were able to get 8ft lengths of board for slightly over $1 each. We got four pieces. (Make sure they are straight all the way down or your frame will be warped).
The curtain is  6ft x 6ft. I decided I would need to make the frame 5ft 9in, giving me room to pull the fabric and yet keeping the full picture visible.
I finally got to use the miter saw!
Kyle assisted me in making the frame. We mitered the pieces to the right length, then used wood glue and screws to put them together.





I let the frame dry over night. I ironed the curtain to get the wrinkles out. I then laid the curtain out on the floor and laid my frame on top. I used a hand held staple gun to staple my fabric to the frame. Start at the top of the frame and fold over your fabric. I based it off the hemline so I knew I would be consistent when I went across. Put your first staple at the middle of the top of the frame, then go to the bottom of the frame and stretch your fabric and put a staple in the bottom center. Then do the same on either side. Keep doing this working out from the center of each side and rotating back and forth to ensure you get the fabric pulled taut.




Fold in your corners and staple those. If I had any extra fabric I just folded it around the wood.
The canvas was light enough I could hang it up with nails. For approximately $25 we now have a large 5'9" x 5'9" piece of "artwork" in the foyer.




 My only caution is if you use a light colored fabric make sure that if your wood has any writing on it that you paint over it with white or find a way to hide it or it may show through your fabric.



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