DIY: Canvas Word Art

Studded canvas hanging in our kitchen!

I've been seeing a lot of word-based art on canvas lately. There's plenty of cute pieces out there, but usually I think a person who had the time could create something similar themselves. I gave this project a whirl just for fun, but thought it looked decent enough to hang in our kitchen. Practice makes perfect though, and I'm looking forward to making more in other colors and styles.

What you'll need:

1. 1 or 2 pre-stretched, pre-treated canvases (size of your choice). Note - I buy mine at Jo-Ann Fabrics as they are much cheaper than at an art store, and are almost always on sale. Plus, you can find coupons in the Sunday paper every week.
2. Black spray paint - I use a matte version.
3. Double-sided tape
4. Access to a computer and printer
5. Thumb-tacks (optional)

The first step is to decide which words or phrases you want to place on the canvas. I build a simple document in Microsoft Word and then choose a fun font. You'll need to make sure the print is very large, and it's also good to know that cursive is harder to cut out, but easier to apply later on.

Print the words you have created; hold the paper up to the canvas to make sure it's an appropriate size.

Cut out the words or letters and apply them to the canvas with the double sided tape. It's important to make sure the letters are very flat to the canvas. This can be a tedious process and takes a bit of time. Best to do in front of an engrossing movie or on a rainy afternoon!

Once your words are properly taped to the canvas, prepare to paint!

Place the canvas flat on top of an old towel or surface that you don't mind getting dirty. I did this in our dungeon of a basement :)

Spray paint the canvas standing above it, leaving about 3 feet of space. Use a quick back and forth motion and don't over-saturate. It's hand-painted, so it's going to be imperfect and a bit fuzzy - that's part of the appeal!

Once the paint is dry (the next day) carefully peel the paper words off the canvas. At this time, add your "studs" by sticking thumb tacks around the border of the canvas. Another tedious process but I like the effect.

And Voila!

Here is a smaller canvas I painted pink and then filled in the letters with black acrylic paint for a baby gift.