Mod Podge Canvas Picture

A good friend of mine took the time to teach me how to make my very own canvas pictures using Mod Podge. The canvas pictures are really simple to make (almost foolproof!), but they end up looking like you spent a whole lot of time and money. But that's the thing, it didn't! Calculating the cost for all of the supplies, it took me roughly $5 to make each picture. 

Since my mom's birthday was coming up, I decided to make canvas pictures for her using four underwater pictures that I had taken while snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. My friend helped me edit and resize the pictures on Photoshop. He also surprised me with three pictures comprising of the night time panoramic view of Disneyland's California Adventures! We ended up stopping at Michael's to buy most of the supplies and printed the pictures at Costco using a lustre finish.

Materials

Pictures (printed lustre/matte)

Canvases

Ruler

Xacto knife

Mod Podge

Black or white acrylic paint

Sponge brushes

Plastic bags or plastic tablecloth

Thumbtacks

Directions

1. Resize your picture depending on canvas size. Print the pictures as lustre/matte at your local Costco. Using your ruler as a guide, cut the edges off using an Xacto knife.

2. Lay a plastic bag or tablecloth onto your workspace. Plastic is better than newspaper or cardboard because the Mod Podge glue on your canvas will not stick to it as badly as paper.

3. Paint around the side edges of the canvas using black or white acrylic paint. Allow sufficient time for the paint to dry.

4. Using a sponge brush, apply one thin even layer of Mod Podge. Quickly adhere the picture onto the canvas. With one hand on the picture and the other behind the canvas, clasp your hands together to push away all of the air bubbles. Push from the center outwards.

5. Apply generous amounts of Mod Podge on top of the picture, making strokes in the horizontal direction. Cover the entire picture and canvas side edges with an even layer. Let the pictures dry overnight or longer if needed. Keep the canvas in a safe area to dry so that no unwanted particles fall onto the glue. The Mod Podge will dry clear.

6. After the canvas picture is completely dry, hang it on the wall using two thumbtacks. Use a level ruler to help alignment.

Embrace the messiness! My entire apartment floor was covered with drying pictures for several days. It definitely became sort of like a maze to get from Point A to Point B.