How to: Make a Vintage Canvas

So I recently saw this project on a fun blog… if you’ve never checked out Story of this Life, you’re totally missing out. Anyway Ester made this project look extremely easy so I thought I’d give it a shot. Let’s just state, it’s easy and I totally loved the way it turned out.

So what you need, a spritz water bottle, a foam brush, a picture printed on a laser printer, a canvas, and Golden Brand Soft Gel gloss. oh and a scrubber thingy…

So you’re going to cover your canvas with the Golden Soft Gel gloss. You want a thin layer, but make sure you completely cover the canvas. A few good glops got this 8×10 covered. I tried with an 8×10 in case it didn’t work so I wasn’t out a whole lot of money. I was being cheap. Remember my saying, I’m cheap not easy.

One thing you’ll want to make sure you do with your picture is invert it. You can do this with any photo program (Photoshop, PSE, Picmonkey) or even in windows you can use paint. I forgot that step but this picture looks okay either direction so oh well… I just switched to the other side of the bridge. Anyway you want to spray your picture down. Don’t make it soaking wet, just a quick spritz that covers the whole picture.

Then flip it over into the gloss. You’ll want to do this fairly quickly as the gloss dries fairly quickly. Now from here press your picture down and then walk away. Leave it set over night if you possibly can.

Okay the next day spray your picture down with that handy dandy water bottle again, then use your scrubber to start peeling away at the paper. I actually found it easier to just use my fingers because the scrubber took up too much of the ink for me. At the edge you really just want to use your fingers as it will pull everything up off of the edge.

Then you’re left with this picture.

As it dries, it will fade a little. If you want it darker, then go back and cover it with Modge Podge. I didn’t, I kind of liked the lighter look to it. My finished product was a bit lighter than this but not by much.

And bam, you’re finished. Because I did an 8×10 I was able to use a standard printer. If you go for a bigger size, send it to a printer like Kinkos or Office Depot (or was it Max) I heard will print. Just make sure you print with a laser printer.

Now it is time to hang on the wall.