I got all crafty this week (which ironically, I mis-typed and my computer thought I wrote crazy…touche, computer, touche!). I’ve had my Silhouette for over a year and gave it a little vacation, but it was time to try something new.
Our mantle needed some Christmas love, and I found the perfect image in the Silhouette store (#105502) saying “Silent Night Holy Night” which is a family favorite (despite the irony!). Considering this is my first canvas project with paint and vinyl, I’d consider it a win, so I thought I’d share the process so you can give it a try.
I had asked a while ago what people do with their old canvases and wasn’t met with many suggestions. Pictures I can just place on top of the others in the frame, but canvases I can’t. These were just sitting behind my bedroom door because we don’t have the wall space to add to keep them all up.
So, I ran it by the family and got the okay to repurpose my canvas. Yep, I painted right over our faces (you can still see the outlines here!).
So, here’s what I did.
1. Painted the canvas with a base coat.
This base coat should be the color you want to show through in the end. I happened to have white paint, so that made the decision easy. This was actually wall paint and I did three coats to make sure the image didn’t show through.
2. Design and Print Out the Image
Admittedly, there could be more explanation here. But, it depends on your machine and canvas size. I found the Silent Night design and resized and worked with my machine to get it the way I needed it for my canvas. Suggestion, if this is your first, make sure you don’t have pieces that overlap. I did and had a super hard time lining it up. It was 4 separate print jobs, too. Second suggestion..don’t use white vinyl on white canvas!
3. Peel away and weed out insides of letters
Once you’ve got it printed, pull away the outsides and weed out the insides of the letters leaving what you want to see on the canvas. Also, trim away any remaining paper.
4. Transfer vinyl to transfer paper
Transfer paper helps you get the vinyl off the backing and eventually onto your surface. Again, this would have been a great time for me to have used vinyl that wasn’t white. Look closely and you can see it there!
5. Transfer vinyl to the canvas
Using that transfer paper that is holding the vinyl, press and rub it into your canvas (the sticky side of the vinyl will be down). I used a little card like tool to make sure it really stuck to the canvas. And, then peel away the transfer paper slowly.
5b. Admire your handy work
You’ve transferred all of your vinyl to your canvas. Pat yourself on the back. Even if it’s not lined up perfectly. You are making art here!
6. Top it with the base color
It’s a good thing you stopped to admire your work because now you are painting over your vinyl. Paint over your vinyl with the base color. This will help seal it so that it’s nice and neat when you peel the vinyl off. This was the one tip I got when asking about doing this, so I took heed!
7. Time for the color
Pick the color you want for your canvas and paint over the whole thing. We found this amazing green in the “oops” section for $9 for a gallon. Thank you mistake! Also, I highly recommend the roller. It goes on so smoothly and easily. I did two coats of color.
8. Peel that vinyl
This is the “fun” part. You have to find your vinyl and pull it up. I used the weeding tool and sort of scraped the paint and carefully poked through the vinyl to pull it up. The paint was slightly wet so it is messy and you have to be careful where you touch and poke. I think I didn’t press my letters down enough at the top, so you’ll see it’s slightly jagged. A reminder…this was my first time doing this, so I’m giving myself some grace. I found it best to work in small sections and pull slowly in the direction of the vinyl.
9. Display your work
Yes. Display that stuff! Because you worked hard and it’s not perfect, but it’s yours and it’s amazing! And, you might have ruined some clothes with paint, so be proud of it!
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Krystyn has been blogging since 2005. She is a sarcasm-loving, straight-shooting, jeans and t-shirts wearing, wife and mom of four girls (ages 14, 12, 9 and 7). She blogs about life as a mom and wife and includes funny stories, family travel, fitness, recipes, STEM and more. She currently resides in the Atlanta, Georgia suburbs.
Sarah @ 2paws Designs says
Beautiful! I finally tried vinyl with mine last week and now see a mistake – I need to get the transfer paper. I was peeling it off piece by piece delicately placing the letters. It worked and they were small, but I bet the transfer paper would have made it a lot easier! Great tip. (And I am laughing that you painted over your faces … but could see myself doing the same. Why waste those canvases and if they weren’t being used?)
Krystyn says
Thank you! And I did the same before, too! I didn’t even know this existed! Until I could get the good stuff, I got clear contact paper at the dollar store and it did the trick!
Sara Zielinski says
This is a great holiday craft, thank you.
Birdiebee says
This looks like a fun project to do. I would love to try this sometime when I have the room to do a craft. Thank you for sharing.
Jennifer Marie says
So cute. I am not crafty, but this looks like something I could do too.
shelly peterson says
This is such a great idea! You did a great job it looks really nice!
Jerry Marquardt says
I love this tutorial and how you educate us on the DIY canvas art.