nursery projects {DIY canvas art}

I'm excited to share another piece of miss bug's nursery with you all!

I first saw this saying on {where else??} Pinterest and loved it, but when I investigated buying a print it wasn't available. That figures! I still wanted to try and use it somewhere, so I decided to make my own canvas art using a combination of several tutorials I found online.

The first thing I did was paint my canvas. I bought this 12"x16" canvas at Jo-Ann Fabrics when they were 50% off so it was a $5 investment. I saw a great tip on Pinterest about putting push pins on the back of the canvas so the wet paint on the sides doesn't stick on the floor and tried it out.

 

It worked great!

I bought a {professionally} painted sign for the room from a seller on Etsy and wanted another piece in the nursery to coordinate with it. I knew what the exact color was, so I hit up Benjamin Moore for a sample of their "Robin's Nest" and used that as the background shade on this canvas as well. A quick pass with a foam brush and we were set.

While that was drying I created my text. I used Photoshop, but I'm sure you could use Word as well. All I did was organize my text so it would fit nicely on a 12"x16" canvas and then printed the words. I cut the words apart and then followed these steps one word at a time...

{1} scribble white chalk all over the back of the paper
{2} tape paper down on the canvas with masking tape
{3} trace around each letter with a pen - press HARD
{4} c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y remove the tape and paper
{5} squint and adjust the lights until you can see the letter outlines on your canvas
{6} use a fine tip, angled paint brush and acrylic paint to fill in the letters

Voila! Handpainted {but really, copied} canvas art.

 

Here it is against the gray walls...

Of course, I learned a lot along the way and would do a few things differently - and hopefully better! - next time. In fact, I bought a 2nd canvas while they were on sale and may still give this one a quick do-over. All in all, though, I love it!

I think the obvious imperfections give it that made with a mother's love look. :-) I am in NO way an artist - if I can do it, you can do it. ha!