During our recent move, some of the glass in our family photos cracked. In my attempt to decorate the walls in our new home without paying an arm and a leg on new frames or to replace glass, I decided to try my hand at affixing the photos to canvas.
You may remember when I blogged about our Amazing Family Display Puzzle. Using the same concept I had a few pictures of my girls printed to 11 X 14 and purchased 11 X 14 canvas to mount them on. Still I found that I had to cut my pictures down a little bit on each side to fit on the canvas.
I painted the sides of the canvas and about an inch around the front edge with black so that if any of the trimmed picture edges weren’t perfect, you couldn’t tell with the naked eye.
With a sponge brush, spread Mod Podge evenly over the canvas and place your picture, right side up, on the wet Mod Podge.
Using a soft cloth or paper towel, wrap a credit card or another rigid object and run over your picture several times to remove any air bubbles that might be trapped under the picture.
Brush Mod Podge over the entire picture very evenly with brush strokes that are the entire width of the picture. Allow to dry for several hours until the Mod Podge turns clear.
Using a sponge brush and with very small amount of paint on the brush, dab the paint onto the edges of the picture with uneven brush strokes. Rub a paper towel over the brush strokes to make the picture appear distressed. You can customize this part of the distressing to your own taste.
And that, Crafty Friends, is how you can create a high end look to your family portraits on the cheap. 
9 Comments
Wow, how clever! Your photographs are so engaging!
Thank you Lori and Jan! These were photos I took on a whim once I decided to put some pictures on canvas. They look great hanging on my library accent wall.
BEAUTIFUL! The photos turned out wonderful!!!
What kind of camera are you using? your pictures are great!
Hi Linda,
Thanks so much! I have a Canon T2i that I am slowly trying to learn to use.
What is the finish of the pictures you used? Glossy or matte?
Hi Kimberly, great question – I always get my pictures printed in matte and I also used the matte mod podge.
Great job on the photos! What kind of paint did you use on the canvas? I can’t wait to try this!
Thanks Michelle! I just used the little acrylic skirt bottles found at my local craft store.
ETA: That should be SQUIRT bottles. Ha! Hopefully you knew what I meant though.