Upcycled Canvas

Justin Wray
by Justin Wray
5 Materials
$10
1 Day
Easy

Let just start by saying, I hate throwing things away! I have had this huge canvas for around 10 years now. I used to love the photo! But now as styles change, I thought it was time for an up-cycle! Of course it wasn’t going in the trash! I googled some images of modern pictures/paintings. I came across one similar from World Market and thought hey I can do that! It took some time, but it was fun, easy, and cheap! My favorite things. Try it for yourself! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @justinwray for weekly DIY. 😊

Here is the original photo. As you can see I started painting it in the corner. I will start by saying I made a mistake by trying to cover it with just white paint! Many coats later, I finally decided to try a primer. The grey Rustoleum primer worked magic! I had two bottle laying around from a former project. I used about one and a half on this. Two coats and the old photo was gone!

After the primer was dry, I also made another huge mistake!! I tried covering the canvas in a Krylon off white spray paint. Big mistake. At this point, I thought this is what I was going to call artwork and just leave it. 😂

Behr saved the day! I picked this up at a little store here in Pittsburgh, called Creative Re-use. They sell donations, so you can pick things up super cheap. I think the whole can cost me around a dollar. Win! Once the primer was dry, I used a wall roller and added two coats of this. It covered perfectly! Just don’t forget to not press too hard, you don’t want to stretch the canvas. This created the perfect base for the fun part!

I picked up these craft paints at Michaels. They cost around a dollar a piece. I picked shades that would match my bedroom. The little foam brushes were from Dollar Tree. They sell these in 3 packs, which was perfect because they are all different sizes. Great for creating texture and different patterns! I also picked up some paint brushes and these little paint trays at the Dollar Tree. These trays come in a 6 pack and were great for mixing the different shades!

Sorry the photo is so dark, I was painting at night! I used the little trays and mixed the paint in different shades of grey. Some dark, some cool, some warm, I wanted them to all be in the same family. I mainly used the grey as a base for all the shades. Now this was the fun part! Honestly, I just started on the outside, making lines and circles with dots. I placed a few of the bigger circles where I wanted them. I filled around with lines of dots. This was the part where you second guess if it looks good or not. 😂 It doesn’t really turn out until the whole thing is covered! I LOVE the way this came out! It’s the perfect addition to my bedroom. It looks crazy with so many dots, but blends perfectly with the rest of the room because the colors are a perfect match! Don’t forget, if you make a mistake or don’t like something, just cover it in the white wall paint! I hope you enjoy trying this project! It was a lot of fun and I didn’t have to throw away that old canvas! Reuse and recycle!

This finished product!

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  2 questions
  • Linda Linda on Feb 05, 2020

    It is unclear to me what you used to make your circles. Was it the end of the handles?

  • PAMELA PAMELA on Mar 02, 2020

    SUPER, HOW DID YOU KEEP FROM GETTING DIZZY..DON'T ANSWER THAT. I LOVE YOUR CREATION. I WILL TRY SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR UGLY WALL ON MY RV. CHEERS!!

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  • Debbie Debbie on Feb 25, 2020

    I absolutely love this. What creativity!! It really does look like lace or an old doily. Thanks for sharing.

  • Lana Lana on Feb 28, 2020

    I love it and will definitely do something very similar!😃🤔 Yours turned out great, congrats❣ And thanks for the TIPS in covering up an outdated picture on canvas to reuse!😉💬

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