DIY Photo Canvas

I'm not sure about you, but I think photo canvas' are super cool and also super expensive. Especially when you are buying a whole group of them to put on your wall. And to be super honest, now that I have made my own a few times, I will probably not ever buy another. A few years ago I won a 16x20 photo canvas and when I got it I was disappointed at how we were stretched and looking a little chubbier than normal. And I had thought I was really glad I hadn't paid for that because I would have been annoyed! So I decided to try a DIY Photo Canvas and I was really excited with how they turned out!



So much so that when we had family pictures taken again this last Fall I decided to make a new set for our living room wall. I uploaded my pictures to a few different places like Shutterfly, Walgreens, Walmart and Presto Photo because I wanted to see how they would look and vary by site. After I decided on my sizes I started looking at coupon codes to see where would be the cheapest. I really thought Walgreens was going to win, because in the past they have. Walmart and Presto Photo were already out because of the prices/photo sizes. The price was going to be around $85-90 at Walgreens and I was all ready to accept that price and then I went to check coupons for Shutterfly and ended up with a way better deal!

I paid less than $60 for:

2 - 16x20

4 - 11x14

6 - 8x10

Then I headed off to Hobby Lobby with my coupons to buy corresponding canvas. I don't remember exactly how much I spent but I remember that I got a 2 pack of 16x20's canvas for about $5 and the others were cheaper. I think I spent less than $20 with my coupons.

I already had Mod Podge and a foam brush because they're a pretty regular part of my crafting.

I laid out a sheet on my table and had all of my canvas' and photos ready. I also had a box cutter because some of my pictures didn't fit exactly on the canvas.

The next thing was starting to paint the mod podge on.



Just brush it on generously. But not thick.



Then lay your picture on it. Flip the canvas over and press down on the back then just set it aside if you have more to do, do them now. If you don't then just let your picture sit to dry for a little bit. I had 12 to do so by the time I got back to the first one it was plenty dry.



Next, while they were flipped over I trimmed them up to the edge of any that needed cleaned up.



Then I flipped it over so I could see the picture and I generously painted on more Mod Podge. I know you might be worried because right now you are thinking it is ruining your picture- But I promise it dries clear!



I thought I'd try to add a little texture to my pictures to make them look more like the real thing. So the second you are done adding the Mod Podge take a blank canvas and press it to your canvas that you just painted, pressing down all over. As you can see below, it worked in some spots and didn't really in others. This was my first one and the others were a little better.



Up close you can see the texture a little better.





When I got done and they had completely dried I painted around the edges of them. The ones that went in my living room were painted a cream color and the ones in my bedroom were this turquoise below.



And now, once they are dry they are all ready to be hung up. I made these in just a couple hours time and they turned out great. Plus I spent about $80 total when I could have easily spent that on ONE pre-made canvas online.

Have you made these photo canvas' before? How did they turn out?