Recycle Out of Style Art

Kristy
by Kristy
10 Materials
$25
45 Minutes
Easy

Using items I had on hand during quarantine, I transformed old canvas art into neutral pieces with texture and depth.

If you'd like you can prime the canvas first, and then make your marks in pencil. This will make it easier to cover up in the end if your finished look is white.


Start out by making marks 1" around the outside perimeter of the canvas. Using a ruler and a pen or permanent marker map out the raised part of the design.


It doesn't have to be prefect because the lines will be getting covered up. Washable markers will bleed color as they get wet in later steps.

Apply glue to the lines you have drawn.


Take your rope and cut a length that will cover your longest line, as well as the sides of the canvas so that the ends can be tucked into the back.


I started with the longest strand and then cut all of the other lines individually so that I didn't have overlapping pieces. This would have been too much height at the overlapping points.


I twisted the cut ends and applied a little extra glue to prevent frayed strands from sticking out.

I then applied a thin coat of tile adhesive to smooth the transition between canvas and rope. You could use drywall mud, mod podge or glue. Anything that you've got on hand to help soften the contrast.

Taking my tracing paper, I cut pieces that were large enough to cover the front face as well as the sides of the canvas.


Tissue paper would also be a great substitute but will be more prone to tearing.


I used a paintbrush to wet the surface of the paper and carefully pressed the paper against the rope and canvas portion making sure it filled in the grooves. I smoothed out air bubbles as I moved from section to section.


Afterwards I followed up with a top coat of tile adhesive. This gave me a matte finish and a bit of additional texture when viewed up close.

Even though the designs differ from one piece to the next, they relate to one another because they are each based on the original marks spaced 1" apart.

Suggested materials:
  • Old Canvas Prints
  • Macrame Rope
  • Permanet Marker
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4 of 8 comments
  • Thea Thea on May 31, 2020

    What I dont understand is why you only get 8 ‘wows’ for this project but someone recently got over 100 for making a very similiar set of abstracts with a power tool. People are not logical. This project rocks!

    • Kristy Kristy on Jun 01, 2020

      Thank you for appreciating it!! I had fun putting together and am glad I could share in case someone does want to make it as well.

  • Marlene Marlene on Jul 06, 2020

    Kristy, I like a lot of ideas on here but have never tried one. This gave me the idea of endless possibilities and will be doing this soon. Thanks for the idea!

    • Kristy Kristy on Jul 06, 2020

      Marlene, thank you for your kind words!! I'm excited for your projects!

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