I must say…I have been one busy beaver the last 6 weeks or so. I have had NO time for crafting and it has had me rather sad. I have a few projects sitting untouched on the back burner just itching to get done. But alas…they will have to wait a bit longer. The kids and I ran off with their cousins, aunties and grandma for a little vacation. But…I have my computer with me, so I will still be around, I just won’t be crafting. But, in the meantime, I will be sharing with you some Idea Room reader’s craftiness with you till I return. Then I promise…I will get back to our regularly scheduled crafting and what not! I have a lot to share with you! (If you would like a feature see here for details)
Today’s Idea Room Guest Reader is Sara from Simply Sara! She shares with us how to make some fun canvas photo collages. They are so simple but would be so fun to use to decorate a wall with your family photos. Thanks for sharing with us Sara!
Ever since getting a digital camera I have been terrible at printing pictures.
And by terrible I mean, I only print them if I get a frame and need a picture to put in it.
And even then, it usually takes me months to get my butt into walmart to get them developed.
Well, I decided that we really needed to showcase our pictures more and so I decided to make some canvas collages.
(thanks to my cousin Chelly for the inspiration!)
Wanna see how?
Alrighty.
Step one: Print your pictures.
Now, I know I am always a step behind in the technology dept. but did you know that you can actually email your pictures in to walmart and pick them up less than an hour later. This is very exciting news, people! (maybe now I’ll print more pictures…)
Step two: Paint your canvas. I decided to paint mine this brown/taupish color. I wanted something neutral that would work anywhere in the house. (I just used Folk Art acrylic paint #472 Mushroom), but you can go crazy with whatever paint color you want.
Oh, and I only painted the sides. The rest will be covered up with pictures.
Step three: Lay your pictures out on your canvas and play around with them until you like how it looks. I decided to do three canvas because I am crazy and couldn’t decided which pictures to use and which ones not to. It’s like trying to decide which kid you love best. It just can’t be done.
So, I made two black and white canvas and one color one… and I love them all the same :D
Step four: cut those babies up so that you have lots of fun different shapes and sizes.
Step five: (muy importante!!) take a picture of your pictures, so that you can reference it when it’s time to glue!
Step six: Mod Podge baby!
Cover your canvas and the back of each picture in mod podge.
Once all your pictures are on, apply a coat of mod podge over the entire thing.
Let it dry and add another coat.
Step Seven: Enjoy! Super easy right? My kids have had so much fun looking at them, and our baby girl especially loves pointing to the different pictures and telling me who she sees. “Papa” “Daddy” “Mommy”…. so cute!
Oh, one last thing, find a wall and hang these babies up.
I found the perfect place for the color one to live… but with the black and white ones I have yet to find just the right spot…
That’s right Chris, a fun night of holding these babies up while I decide where they look good awaits you!
Aren’t you excited?!
This makes you want to come home right now doesn’t it?!
:)
Happy canvas collage making everyone!
**Thanks Sara! We love it! Go ahead and leave Sara some awesome comment love!
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Alexis Taylor says
That is such a cute idea! And would make a fantastic gift for a Grandparent. Or even do a "Steps" collage for your children, from birth to present time. Very cute idea!!!! :)
I love it! This is a great idea that I will be using in the near future! Thanks so much :) and an fyi: I find it much easier to upload pictures to an online site like shutterfly or snapfish and then have them mailed to my house. I have always had fast service too…even my 20 x 30 print. As a bonus, both sites and others have great deals, aka free prints and other photo memory making stuff :)
Really cute idea!
Too crazy! I JUST made one of these for my husband for Father's day!
http://familyofthevine.blogspot.com/2010/06/family-photo-collage.html
These are so cute!!!! I have some canvas and I can't wait to try this.
Thanks for sharing
You could also arrange something like that on your computer & then have it printed on those nice canvas frames.
Sara, I don't know you but I have fallen in love with you. This project is something that I can do! I read through all the steps and found myself nodding along because I actually understood what canvas was and modge-podge (some projects on here I only get through half way because I have no idea what they're talking about). What an awesome idea to spruce up a space…especially one an apartment space full of white walls. Thank you!! Can't wait to pick out some pictures.
Amy, thank you SO much :D
Wow. Super honored to be featured on your AMAZING site!
I'm so excited to see that you guys like them and want to make them too. They really are crazy easy and so fun to make!
I'd love to see all your finished projects!
I LOVE the "Canvas Picture" idea. It sure does beat alot of the usual 8×10's etc. frames hanging on your walls. I have a new granddaughter and this would be great to put her pictures on since I'm taking so many! Thanks for this great idea!
This is such a great idea! I'll have to search for a place that I can put one up. Another way I think would work, is spray a spray adhesive all over the canvas and then stick all the pictures to it. Then Mod Podge over the whole thing. Thanks for the idea.
You can also upload lots of pictures and create really nice collages through the Wal Mart site. You can't pick it up in an hour, but you can pick it up at the store or have it shipped to your house pretty cheap!
http://photos1.walmart.com/walmart/collageit/prd=Poster
Wow, such a smart idea! I'm going to finally tackle the box of photos I've had printed, but collecting dust – thanks!
I *love* this idea! It's so fabulous and nobody would know how simple it is to make – well except I also have a problem getting those pictures printed. But this would be worth it!!!
This is easier than scrapbooking all night! Thanks for the great idea!
Really great post!
I made one of my family and just love it.
http://createdbydiane.blogspot.com/2010/05/creating-your-own-photo-canvas.html
Thanks for sharing this, i was just thinking "I wonder if i could make my own canvas photo project" I can't wait to try this project soon.
Very clever. And something that looks so do-able. Thanks for sharing a great idea. I hear ya on the "getting your photos actually printed" topic. The online upload has really helped me out a lot. And did you know that Costco does the same thing? Actually if you don't even want to go to the warehouse to pick them up, Costco will mail them to you for FREE. It take about 5 days to a week for me to get mine, but I'm in AK. Works for me though if I'm not in a hurry. You can't beat their prices.
I love this idea and have already got the canvases, paint and modge podge already. Just need to select which photos that I want and order them and I am all over this project! Thanks for sharing this is going to be so much fun for me and my family!
Yay!!! Those look so awesome!!
such a great idea! Thanks! I am making these but with one 11 x 14 pic on a 16 x 20 canvas! So excited! And just FYI….costco also does the fast prints, and they are WAY better quality then walmarts!
We made these for our parents, grandparents, and siblings for Christmas, and they absolutely loved them (so did we!). Thank you for this post!
I just wanted to add one thing; if these will be wrapped in paper at some time, it would be wise to add some kind of clear coating at the end (the Mod Podge bottle mentions adding a lacquer). Some of mine sat wrapped for over a week, and when they were unwrapped, they were damaged because the paper had stuck to the Mod Podge, even though I had waited well over 48 hours after drying. Not the thing I wanted to discover after making eleven collages!
I mod podged old childhood black and white pics to the outside of an unfinished wood chesk from michaels craft store…inside I mod-podged colored pics….gave to my 80 yr old mom for xmas and hit of the party. I included some of her childhood pics and sisters and of course great grandchildren. The black and white is better I think.
this is a very nice idea, but what if i dont want to ruin the pics? any ideas for preserving the actual pics?
Hi, I have been looking for something like this for a while and I managed to get one done for me. This nice chap does these from home, printed on canvas. It was a gift for my parents of my children.
redcanvasltd.com
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Thanks a whole lot for your give good results you include place in the following Its really a most ppropriate and valuable.That was really funny! I am glad I am here
Hey! I love this so much that I’ve attempted to do it myself. My first coat of mod podge just dried and I’m realizing that I put it on a little too thick in one area and now the picture is looking streaky. Is there anyway I can fix that without ruining the picture?
I did my nephew’s foot prints when he was two weeks old on nice size canvas. So know I plan to but his pictures around the foot prints. Thank you for the easy directions.
What size do you used to the canvas?
Not exactly sure. This was a guest post. But, I am thinking either she used 11X14 or 16X20. There is a link to click on and you could ask her for the exact measurements. Sorry.
Dumb question here…. I want to try this, but I was wondering….. Once you are done with your pgotographic collage, does it have to be framed with glass?
Lisa, Great question, no it doesn’t need to be framed.
Does the thickness of modge podge + picture paper make the canvas warp??
Katherine- It actually doesn’t. It works really well.