Sunday Funday Craft

I'm sure everyone has seen all the cute canvas crafts there are on Pinterest.  There seem to be thousands of ways to use canvas.  It's been probably well over a year (....or two) ago I tried to make a craft with a canvas where you place stickers on the canvas, paint over it, then peel the stickers off and the words are left on the canvas.  Please tell me you know what I'm talking about...if not, look it up.  It usually turns out really cute, well I had a Pinterest Fail with mine. 

Exhibit A:

 

 You can hardly see the letters but the stickers wouldn't peel off.  I think it was my own fault for using cheap stickers.  

But anyways, it didn't work and I thew the canvas in the closet and forgot about it. More on that in a minute.

Fast forward to this past July.  My friend Becca's birthday was coming up and I wanted to make a cute craft for her since she appreciates that kind of thing.  I once again saw some really cute canvas ideas on Pinterest.  These showed covering a canvas with fabric and attaching a letter.  So, off to Hobby Lobby I went.  I purchased a larger canvas than I had used before, some cute gray fabric that matches her couch, and here's what Becca didn't know, I re-used the letter 'C' (her last name initial).  My mom was going to do a project with it and had painted it red, but she ended up not using it, so I took it, and had my husband spray paint a few coats of yellow over it to cover up the red.  I didn't take pictures of the whole project, but I did for my next one.  But here is how her present turned out.  Super cute if you ask me, and her. :) 

 My husband's handy work was the back.  He used a razor blade to cut off the excess fabric.  I love it when the back side looks just as good as the front.  These little details matter, especially since it was a present.

And now, fast forward with me to this afternoon.  And then rewind with me to a year (...or two) ago when I had the epic fail with the other canvas.  I decided to try to cover up my past mistake and make myself a 'canvas-covered-with-fabric craft.'  I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and found some cute material to cover the canvas with. Side note: have you seen how many cute fabrics are out there now?  I could have spent hours just in the fabric section. 

I already had the other items I needed: wooden letters, hot glue gun, staple gun, razor blade (box-cutter kind of something), scissors, and spray paint.

First, I spread the material over the canvas and got it into a position I liked.  The material I picked out had little birds and I wanted to make sure a bird was in a good spot and wasn't covered up, because they were just so darn cute! You can also play around with the position of your letters.  I'll explain the phrase I used later.  :)

 Then carefully, I cut out the rectangle I needed.  Don't worry too much about getting straight lines.  Next, iron your piece of fabric, because we aren't heathens and we want it to be wrinkle free on the canvas. 

Oh, actually, before all that, spray paint your letters because that part takes the longest.  I picked just plain white, but it really pops against all the colors of the fabric.  Side note: Rustoleum spray paint is the best...ever...really. 

So, once you have your material cut out and ironed (mama didn't raise no fool), it's time to staple it to the canvas.  Try to use as much care as you can, and pull the material so it is as tight as you can get it.  The end product will look a lot better.  Also, make sure you fold the material so the corners look good.  Use a razor blade or scissors to cut off the excess material.

 After stapling the back and trimming the rest of the material.  Sorry that it's sideways, I make no claims to be a photographer. 

Spray paint another coat on your letters.  These little letters had a tendency to get blown around by the spray paint so be careful that you don't loose them.  Then, wait as patiently as you can for the spray paint to dry.  I have very little patience so I picked mine up while they were still a little sticky, oh well.  Attach the letters with hot glue and you are done! 

 My finished project all ready to be hung up in my bedroom. 

The phrase 'You make me, me' is actually a song title and lyric.  'Our song' actually.  It's by a band called MxPx (my husband introduced me to them while we were dating, hadn't heard of them before that or since, but they have some good songs).  Anyways, the song was played at our wedding, and my husband actually had the phrase engraved in his wedding ring.  It's a cute song about how you make me who I am.  Aw, gushy stuff I know. :)  Anyways, it made for a cute project.  

Oh, and while I was at Hobby Lobby yesterday I checked out their clearance section, and found some cute photo albums for only $3.59!  A great find if you ask me. :)

 Well, that was my Sunday Funday Craft. It was super easy, fast, and cheap- use what you already have and coupons!  Now, to relax before another week gets started. :)