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.
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. 😉
Thank you so much for sharing this! I have a b/w photo of my 8 year old son that I wanted to do something with for Father’s Day. Guess what I decided to do with it?
I can’t wait!
Were the pictures printed on regular photo paper?
Hi Paige, I had mine printed at Costco so they were printed on photo paper. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for posting this. I don’t think I’m going to do the distressing, but the clear directions for faking canvas portraits are perfect for a DIY-phobe such as myself. I have four currently drying and am excited to see how they turn out.
I absolutely love this DIY project! I fully intend on using it for some of our family portraits. I was, however, wondering if this would work with posters? My oldest has some awesome super hero portraits that would last so much longer and pop out much more on canvas.
Hi Kristin, such a great idea! My only concern is that the mod podge would get your poster too wet. Paper posters don’t have that resistance to moisture like photo paper does. I’d be afraid of bubbling and ultimately your posters being soggy and ruined. It might be worth experimenting with an inexpensive poster from the store and an adhesive spray. Maybe even a very light spray of clear coat on top of that. Sounds fun! Would love to know how they turn out if you try it!
does this also work for color photos?
Clare, I’m sure it would work just as well! 😉
Hi! I like your project, im just wondering if in case, in the absence of a mod podge, what kind of glue can i use? if is it okay to use a regular glue? Like elmer’s? thanks a lot 🙂
Vanessa,
That’s a great question. I’m really unsure of the answer though. Mod Podge dries pretty clear and seems to be a little thinner than Elmer’s glue so it brushes on nice and thin. If you give it a try, will you let us know your results?
You can mix a little water with clear or white glue for homemade mod podge.
When product is finished do you or can you apply a spray / sealer so canvas can be wiped when dusting without effecting the picture?
.
Hi Marlida,
I did not do this but I assume this would be fine. Let us know how it goes for you!
Hi, just did the project with all the correct steps, but the problem I encountered was that as soon as I put the picture on the canvas, it curled up on the edges and wouldn’t lay flat. I used the exact same mod podge and did all the steps. I really need help as I have a ton of these I’m wanting to do. Thanks so much!
Hi Megan, are your prints on photo paper? I didn’t encounter this issue at all. Can you try uncurling the edges by running a credit card around the edges to get it to lay flat against the mod podge?
I love your photos. I have tried and tried your method of mounting pictures on stretched canvas and they continue to warp. They are fine until I put the top layer of modge podge on, within seconds they have large pockets of air under the photo. I have tried your idea with the credit card wrapped in paper towel, using a ruler wrapped and also turning them face down and pressing on the backside of the canvas. Any suggestions?
Hi Terie, so sorry to hear this. Are you printing on thick photo paper? If you are just printing on regular paper, I can see the paper getting too saturated and bubbling but when getting images professionally printed on thick photo paper, you shouldn’t have this issue. Hope that helps!
YEAH!! So glad you put this on pinterest!! My daughter and I finally did it today and it looks sooo great! We plan on doing one of all the family members now!!
I downloaded colored pictures off my computer but made them in black and white. I used regular computer paper and then modge podged on canvas. They all turned green. The modge podge pulled the green out of the ink and smeared. I will try printing on photo paper! Thanks for the info!
Where do you get your great ideas from, there brilliant! Also are these supplies easy to come by ?
Hello!
Love this! It is beautiful!! I want to do this with colored pictures, Do you think the black would still look right around it? Being a military family, I have had several moves and several broken picture frames that were irreplaceable! Crafting is right up my ally and so is saving money 😉 Thank you for the great idea!!
Hi Sierra, maybe a color that matches the background of your photo? I think it’s pretty hard to mess these up though! 😉
Hello! I have one question, on which paper should the photographer be? Can I use the thick glossy one from like wallgreends? Or it needs to be only from a plain printer paper?
Hi Alla, my photos were professionally printed on photo paper.
-Carli
So did you use actual photos printed on photo paper? Or did you have your photos printed on regular paper??
I had my photos printed on photo paper. I don’t think regular paper would hold up to the mod podge. 😉
I am so excited to try this!! I’m starting a grandkids wall and this will work perfectly. Thanks for the inspiration and for sharing. Great instructions and love the help in comments.
Have you tried this with gloss Mod Podge? Or just matte?