Except me.
Photography is our family hobby. My grandfather started the
tradition. He passed the hobby onto his children, my father and my aunt. My dad passed it onto me.
One of the best photography classes I ever took was from my father in his kitchen. One by one, my Dad handed me a different type of camera lens, various telephoto, macro, and specialty lenses. I put them on my film camera body and looked through his kitchen window and at the same pot of flowers to understand what each lens did to my subject.
Many of my family and friends have my photo hanging in their
homes. I’ve been asked to shoot photos for others too.
Photography wise, it’s a cobbler’s kid doesn’t have any
shoes situation around here. Here’s my photo collection. One photo of Husband and Blitzkrieg on my desk.
I took the photo of
Husband and Blitzkrieg on Blitzkrieg's first vacation four years ago.
Husband regularly comments on the photo of Blitzkrieg I use as my computer desktop wallpaper. I made a reprint of it last summer for Husband's birthday present and turned it into a custom photo canvas. I DIY'ed it because the giant print I wanted was way too expensive. The more affordable 8 x 10 canvas was way too small to hold Mr. Personality.
Given the outpouring of love you have given us during Blitzkrieg's cancer diagnosis I thought you might like to see it too.
My personality cannot be contained by a mere 8 x 10 picture!
I NEED BIGGER!
How to Make a Large Custom Photo Canvas
You will need:
Large reprint of your photo on paper
Artist canvas the same size as your photo
Craft paint
Paint brush
Mod Podge
Card/smoother thingy
A bunch of heavy books
Make it:
1, Have your photo reprinted using a photo reprint service
such as a local photo shop, Staples, or though an on line service such as Snapfish, Vistaprint,
etc.
2. Paint all four sides and approximately one inch around the
face of the canvas with craft paint and allow the paint to dry. I choose black
because it matches the background edges of my photo.
I painted the sides and top to make my photo canvas look finished instead of
slapped together in the front yard when Husband wasn't home.
3. Brush the back of the photo and the canvas with Modge
Podge. You will have to move quickly on to Step 4 before the Modge Podge dries.
4. Line the photo up with the canvas. Use a card/your
hand/something to smooth the bubbles out of the photo and attach the paper
photo to the canvas.
I reuse an old plastic card as my Mod Podge smoother
tool.
5. Pile a bunch of heavy books on top of the photo
canvas to encourage everything to become always stick together BFFs.
Blitzkrieg looks like Big Brother, doesn’t he?
I had a canvas made of one of my favorite Tower Bridge photos shortly before Christmas through a sale plus coupon I can't make it for that cheap kind of deal. However, the customer service was so bad and the ordering system was so kludgy I think I'm sticking to the DIY version from here on out.
I hung the Tower Bridge photo in our guest bathroom. I hung Blitzkrieg as Big Brother in the living room.
The photo quality is largely the same. I think the Tower Bridge print looks a little better in this post because the lighting in my living room is darker than the guest bathroom.
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This is when being a history geek pays off.
6. Optional: If you want a matte or glossy finish to your
photo add a coat of matte or glossy Mod Podge to the photo canvas. I skipped
this step.
7. Hang it up and admire!
How Does My DIY Version Compare to a Professionally Printed Photo Canvas?
I had a canvas made of one of my favorite Tower Bridge photos shortly before Christmas through a sale plus coupon I can't make it for that cheap kind of deal. However, the customer service was so bad and the ordering system was so kludgy I think I'm sticking to the DIY version from here on out.
I took this photo from a water taxi on our dream London trip way too many years ago.
I hung the Tower Bridge photo in our guest bathroom. I hung Blitzkrieg as Big Brother in the living room.
The photo quality is largely the same. I think the Tower Bridge print looks a little better in this post because the lighting in my living room is darker than the guest bathroom.
Did you enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Condo Blues RSS Feed or to Condo Blues by Email.
19 comments:
Thank you for this super duper idea!! I have a kind of silly question:how long should one wait for the Modge Podge to dry before piling books on top?
Thanks,
Krissy
That is so awesome!
I let the Mod Podge dry overnight. I shoved it under the bed in the guest bedroom to hide it from Husband while it was drying.
That's an awesome idea! I have a picture I've been trying to figure out what to do with that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg and this is perfect!!
Thanks,
Selynn
Wow, great idea. Thanks for sharing. Stopping by from Met Monday. Liz
This is a great idea! I could do this with my kids' photos and it would look so nice in our house!
I love this idea!!
Great job, and great idea. How big was your photo? Did it have wrinkles from the modge podge?
I wanted to go bigger but 18 x 24 inches was the largest size I could make still be able to hide it from Husband for his birthday. I don't have wrinkles because I used the plastic card to smooth them out when I adhered the photo to the canvas. Having a darker photo to hide any Mod Podge boo boos helps.
I am absolutely going to try this. I bought a canvas print of my mom's dog for her at Christmas a couple of years ago (big sale, like yours) and I've wanted to have some of my own ever since.
Glad to have the instructions for this -- have a pile of photos I wanted to use in redecorating and this will help! BTW -- my favorite "tool" is an old plastic card too! Great for smoothing, caulking (the rounded edge) and scraping. I would love it if you would consider linking to Busy Monday at A Pinch of Joy, a Sunday through Thursday link party for ideas that make life easier, better and more fun!
looks great im sure hubby loved it
I don't mean to ask a dumb question, but when you say reprint the photo on paper, do you mean card stock or just go to the local one hour photo store and get a regular print?
Thanks for not mocking my ignorance! I'm new to DIY!
I had my photo reprinted on photo paper through a photo store printing service. Cardstock won't take the rich colors from the print. It will look dull.
Very nice! I think I'll give this a try myself.
I tried this and my photo paper rolled up from the mod podge. Then my mod podge seeped through the picture and caused wierd discolaration and wrinkling (a card wouldn't get rid of the wrinkles). What am I doing wrong?
I'm not sure. Maybe you used too much Mod Podge and that's why it seeped through?
Are you using photo transfer modge podge or regular modge podge? I have seen websites use both, and while your version looks the easiest, I am now confused about which modge podge to use.
Thanks, Jessica Clark
I used regular Mod Podge.
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