Lately, I've been decorating my house little by little. I have been making a lot of my own wall decor to save money. I created this wall canvas for my home and I'm going to show you how I made this piece! I am going to be making two of these, however I am going to show you one of them as they are going to look almost alike anyway.
You will need:
- 1 canvas
- 2-3 sheets of vintage sheet music (depending on the size of your canvas)
- Mod Podge
- various paintbrushes
- paper scissors
- glue gun and glue sticks
- ribbon or lace trim
- buttons
- paper or silk floral embellishments or whatever kind of floral embellishments you would like to use
Step 1: Start cutting pieces of your sheet music to fit. I find cutting triangle shapes and long pieces to fit diagonal works best. Grab your Mod Podge and start adding your pieces to the canvas. You can overlap pieces of paper just try not to overlap too much or it will tend to look bulky and very uneven. When I work with paper and Mod Podge I use a thin layer to smooth the paper on there. If you use too much it will cause your paper to look lumpy. As you attach each piece of paper, smooth out the paper the best you can to ensure you don't have any bubbles.
Step 2. Continue covering the canvas until you have the entire piece covered including the edges. The edges are going to be the most challenging part of this project. I cut thin strips of the sheet music to cover the edges of the canvas. Plug in your glue gun by this point if you already haven't.
Step 3. When your canvas is covered and the Mod Podge feels dry underneath, smooth on a layer of Mod Podge over the top of the sheet music. I used 1 layer of Mod Podge. The top layer of Mod Podge seals your paper to a smooth sealed finish. Don't use too much at once otherwise your paper will start to fall apart and smear.
Step 4. When your top layer is completely dry, you can start adding your embellishments!
I laid out my embellishments first before gluing to get an idea of how I wanted them to look. Glue each piece down and let dry. Lastly, add your ribbon trim. You are finished!
Tips and Pointers:
- This is a fairly low cost project and you can make it even lower cost by getting a canvas that has the staples on the sides. Generally, the canvases with stapled sides are less desirable for painting, however I like to use them for Mod Podge projects as the staples will be covered anyway. As a bonus, the stapled canvases are usually significantly cheaper.
- I found my canvases at a thrift store for cheap. You can also sometimes find cheap canvases at your local bargain store or factory closeout store.
- Vintage sheet music can be found various places, but it takes a little digging and/or searching. Some places will have it priced reasonably, and some places will charge a little bit of a premium for them. I was charged per sheet rather than per book.
- I purchase my floral embellishments from crafts stores such as Michaels or Joann Fabric Stores. Always check the bargain $1 bins at the craft stores for ribbon and embellishments! Always take your coupons!
