Make Your Own Photo Canvas Print

People come up with a lot of ideas on how to turn simple things into great pieces for the house. Normally, if you want to decorate a wall in your house, you would either hang framed photos or paintings. But if you want something unique and inexpensive, you can try other ways to decorate such as getting your printed photos on canvas.

Canvas prints are gorgeous, especially since the canvas texture adds to the impact of the photos. You can of course have them printed professionally, but they can be very expensive if you want a lot of your photos to be printed.

Here’s a cheap way of giving your photos the canvas effect:

You will need the following materials: Mod Podge, canvas, photo print, rough-textured towel or a huck towel, and a foam brush. You can buy a framed canvas; but then again, if you want to save money, you can buy bulk canvas. Cut and frame it using ½ inch plywood that you can buy and have professionally cut in your local hardware store. Also, have your photos professionally printed poster size in a shop, like Office Depot, to ensure you have good quality photographs.

If you want a wrap-around photo effect, your photos should be 2 inches bigger than the frame, so keep this in mind when you get your photos printed and when you get the plywood cut. If your picture is the same size as the framed canvas, you can paint the sides with acrylic if you want. If your photos have white frames, cut them out.

Get the framed canvas and photos ready. Cover the top of the canvas (and the sides, if you will wrap the picture around it) using your brush. Place the photograph on the canvas carefully. To ensure that the are no air bubbles or crinkles, smooth the photo using the towel. The entire photo should really be flat on the canvas.

After letting it dry for a few minutes, paint the surface of the whole photo with a thin and even layer of Mod Podge using the foam brush. It will look like you have ruined the photo, but fear not. Once the Mod Podge has dried, it will become transparent and you will discover that the photo did not bleed. Before the Mod Podge dries however, gently place the towel over the picture and press it carefully. Remove the towel by pulling it upwards to prevent rubbing over the canvas. You’ll see that the picture now has that canvas-like texture. Once you have a set of canvased pictures ready, all you need to do is to choose the wall on your living room or bedroom to hang your creations.