Father's Day Gift: DIY Canvas Picture

Here is an idea for Father’s Day. A picture of grandkids on canvas for grandpa(Nanu).

I am super excited for this project. I have never gifted my Dad anything for Father’s Day before this, but this time, I decided to step up. It was never celebrated much while we were growing up, but now that we are far apart, it can serve as a reason to send some handmade stuff from kids/grand kids back home.  And knowing my Dad, I am sure he will love it.

For this you would need:

• Blank Canvas
• Picture the size of canvas
• Modge Podge
• Foam brush
• Brayer or Roller

A while back, I had picked up three 12 * 12 canvas from the craft store on sale. They have been laying in my store for quite some time now,  and there is no better time to put it to good use than now.

On Picasa, I added the text to the picture, and used staples to get a 12 by 12 print on glossy paper. It is half the price from Walgreens.  Also, at Staples they will actually print the pic of size 12 by 12 or any size you need. At Walgreens, you would have to cut the picture to fit the canvas.

I also took an engineer print of the photograph without text for my home, and decided to try my hand at this process using this engineer print first. It cost me 0.60 cents for the engineer print.. Unbelievable!!! So if anything goes wrong(which it did), I would be prepared before I did the final version.

Step 1: I saw some pictures online where the edges of the canvas were painted. If you choose to do this, now is the time. I decided to skip this step.

Step 2: Using the foam brush, apply an even thick layer of modge podge on the canvas.

Step 3: Then stick the picture on the canvas. This step is easier with a thick photo paper instead of thin engineer print. With the engineer print, there were lots of bubbles formed. You can use the brayer or roller to remove these bubbles.  

Step 4: After the bubbles are out, apply another layer of modge podge on the top of picture, and around the edges of canvas, and let it dry.

In the engineer picture below, I did not use the brayer, and all the bubbles can be seen. It looks better after drying, but still its not as smooth.

Here is the one with thick photo paper. There were hardly any bubbles. Whatever were there, I smoothed it using the brayer.  This one looks perfect.

I noticed that even though it was harder to work with the engineer print(and its only in BW), the canvas texture can be seen through it because it’s so thin. And so, it looks so much close to the actual prints on canvas. I will post the results of Engineer print on canvas using the brayer, hopefully without any bubbles soon.

We wrapped the gift in drawing sheet from kid’s drawing table.  It had some random drawing done by kids. 

Added some handmade cards for Nanu, and its ready to be posted in this gift box from usps. Now hoping Indian Postal System would do its part and deliver in time.

Happy Crafting!
Oh.. BTW, if my Mom is reading this post, please let it be a surprise for Nanu Papa.  I know its going to be very hard, but try NaniMa:)