Vintage Truck Photo Canvas DIY

Today I'm going to show you the really simple canvas photo art I made to hang over our family room couch.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was long past due time to paint our family room.  17 years with the original beige, and lots of scuffs and dings.  I filled holes, sanded and painted in one day.  It's a tan with a hint of gray.  Now I have large walls that need some decorations.  Of course I went to my pinterest boards for inspiration, and decided to try this.  DIY Photo Canvas

I pretty much followed her directions, but did 3 - 16" x 20" canvases to fill the wall.  Trying to be cheap as usual, I figured out it was way less money to get a banner print than three 16 x 20's. Walgreens has banners 2' x 4' for $25 with a 30% off code it was about $18.50.  I cropped the free photo I found online to the right proportions and uploaded it to Walgreens photo. Done in an hour.

I picked up 16 x 20 canvases from Hobby Lobby at $7.99 for 2, with the 40% off came to $2.40 each. Brought the hubs along to get 2 of them with the coupon. :)

Found a can of flat black paint and a cheap brush and painted the edges and a little of the front.

Took the banner and cut out the 3 prints so they would look right on the wall.  This took a little figuring, and I was afraid they wouldn't look right with the space between them, but it turned out great.  Just doing one canvas would be way easier. 

Covered the canvas with matte Mod Podge, and glued the photo on. Pressed it down really well around the edges, flipped it over and pressed on the canvas to make sure it adhered well.  I cut the pictures about a 1/4" smaller than the canvas so the edges would glue down well.  Let it dry for about 30 minutes.

This is the part that I was worried about. I couldn't imagine painting the surface of a photo with a water based product and not having it ruin the picture. But, everyone's doing it, so I did it!

I used a foam brush, others said that left fewer brush marks.  I wasn't too worried about it, I was looking for a vintage feel. It looks creamy, but dries clear and beautiful!

I only did one coat, too anxious to hang them on the wall before my hubby got home.  He loves old pick up trucks!

If I was doing anything that got any use, I would do a few coats, but hanging on the wall it won't ever get touched.  

I'm so happy with the results. It was cheap, quick and easy.  Less than $30 for all three.  

One wall done, three to go....

Thanks for stopping by!

Karilyn

Cheapskate Cricut Rugs

I have been busy trying to get some outdoor projects done before winter really sets in.  I think it may have come last night.  So windy and cold, and chance of flurries today.  I got my shutters painted and back up, but it's too nasty to go outside and take any pictures, so that will have to wait for a nicer day.

The other outdoor project I completed was a stenciled door mat.  I was looking for a 'coir' mat, (I think that's what they're called, not sure) for awhile, but couldn't find a plain one.  My sweet hubby found me one for Christmas last year, but it has been sitting downstairs since then.  I decided it was was past time to do something with it.  I had tried this technique on a couple other rugs, and it worked great.

I am an avid sewer, with an embroidery machine.  For that, I have a roll of sticky back tear away backing for embroidery hooping.  Well, I had a great idea!  Cut it the size of a sheet of paper, run it through my printer with the pattern I want, cut it out and stick it to my project.  Cheapskate stencil!  It is a little tedious to cut out the design, but I seem to thrive on tedious projects.

So, here are some pics of the rugs.  The little rug with the damask design is a plain carpet sample type rug that actually worked the best.  I stuck the stencil to it and spray painted it. It has been my front door rug all summer, and was getting kind of faded looking.  I just took a small paint brush and repainted it all.  Took me maybe 1/2 hour or so, well worth it, I think.

Here it is with just the stencils stuck on it.  I had to cover the rest of the rug with newspaper and tape it off before I started spray painting.

These are the designs I decided to put on my coir mat. My daughter pointed out that I am a little damask happy, so I decided to just go with something simple.  I always look at my favorite stores to see what I like, and try to do a knock off. I used an exacto type knife, and a small pair of scissors to cut it out, remembering that I wanted the outside stencil, not the actual letter and numbers.  However, they came out nicely, and I saved them for a future project, perhaps.

Here is the plain mat before decorating.

Here it is all ready for paint.

Here it is after painting.

And here it is all done.  Looks pretty good.  It was hard to get the stencil to stick really well on the points of the surface of the rug.  The other rug that had a flatter surface had a neater finish, but I'm OK with this.  I'm sure no one would notice but me!

Notice my helper sleeping inside!

Also notice the rug inside in the entry.  I am so done with that!  I am going to find a piece of carpet and have 3 rugs bound for my front door, back door and slider.  If you could look beyond the sleeping dog, you look right out my back slider, and my back door is just to the left of that.  So you can see all 3 rugs at once, and I want them all to match, sort of.  I plan to decorate them somehow too, just haven't decided what.

I'm sure this could be done with any sticker sheet, as long as you can remove it from your project.  I would really like a Silhouette. It is like a cricut, but you don't need cartridges. It is computer generated, and it will cut any stencil design you send it.  The choices are limitless.  So....if anyone wants to donate to my Silhouette  fund, I will be more that happy to cut stencils or wall vinyl or anything you'd like!  :)

Thanks for stopping by to read, come back soon!

Karilyn

Partying Here

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

The Shabby Nest

French Country Cottage

At the Picket Fence

Finding Fabulous

Patch Clutch Tutorial

Today I'm going to share a tutorial for a sewing project.  It is a combination of ideas I put together to make a cute little wristlet/clutch.  It could be done many different ways, but I'll show you how I did it.

You will need
6 different fabric scraps 2" x 5" (you will sew together and trim to 8 1/2" x 4") 
From solid color fabric (I used laundered dropcloth, it looks like linen)
1 - 8 1/2" x 2"   front upper  
1 - 8 1/2" x 6"   back
1 - 3" x 11"    handle
From lining fabric (anything cute that matches)
1 - 8 1/2" x 2"
1 - 8 1/2" x 4"
1 - 8 1/2" x 6"
Fusible interfacing  8 1/2" x 4"
Fusible fleece cut 1/2" smaller than your exterior pieces
1 - 8" x 1 1/2"
1 - 8" x 3 1/2"
1 - 8" x 5 1/2"
and 1 - 7" zipper

Lay your fabric scrap strips out so you like how it looks, and sew them together on the long sides, with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Press your seams open.  My pieces are longer, so I could make 2.

Cut it, centered end to end, to measure 8 1/2" x 4".

Cut out the rest of your pieces.

Fuse the interfacing to the back of the piece of strips, and then fuse the fleece to that piece and the upper top and back pieces.  There should be about a 1/4" around the edges.

Lay your zipper, face down with the pull on the left, and stitch it to the front piece.  Move your pull up or down to get it out of the way of the presser foot.  You can use a zipper foot, or I just adjust my needle all the way to the left, and leave my regular sewing foot on.

Now lay the matching lining  piece face down on top of the zipper and pin it.  Flip the whole thing over and stitch it on the back side.  That way you can follow your first stitching.

Now you have a sandwich, with the zipper in the middle.  Press both of these pieces down, with the zipper sticking up.  

Lay your upper top piece face down on the zipper and stitch.  Flip it over and pin the lining piece on and stitch it just like you did for the lower front. 

Press these two pieces away from the zipper, and top stitch on each side of the zipper.  Your front is finished!

I zig zag the ends of the zipper together so it won't spread open or go wonky on me when I stitch the back on. 

Take your handle piece and press it in half longways, then press each side to the center. Edgestitch both long edges

  Fold the handle in half and pin then stitch it to the upper left of the front of the wristlet.

Unzip the zipper halfway or more.  Lay the back piece face down on the front, then lay the matching lining piece face up on top of that.

Pin and stitch around the edges, being careful to keep the handle free.

You can just leave the seams as they are, zig-zag them, or serge them.

Unzip it all the way, and turn right side out.  I put a 3" piece of narrow ribbon in the zipper pull with a slipknot and heat sealed the ends with a wood burning tool.

Ta Da!!  It's all done.

I hope this makes sense.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I also have a couple other fabric choices, and they are all in my etsy shop if you'd rather buy one than make one.  

Have fun sewing!!