DIY Artwork – Canvas and Coffee Filters

E very time someone tells me I am creative I think “no, not really…I just know something good when I see it and am brave enough to try to duplicate it.” My living room is mostly neutral with pops of accent colors (mainly, turquoise/teal, green, and cranberry).  But recently I decided I wanted to de-emphasize the warm reddish tones for spring and summer and feature the blue and green colors more prominently.  With that in mind I needed to replace a piece of artwork for 6 months of the year.  I spotted something on line I thought would be perfect – and it was on sale for $89 {reg. $150} – not bad, but not in the budget.  It was simple and a bit modern with 2 large white flowers and as I looked at it White Coffee Filters popped into my head as an easy way to create the flower petals…and they would add texture!  So here is what I ended up with:

{going to paint this oak buffet some day soon :) }

I started with a primed blank canvas – had a 50% off Michael’s coupon and got one that was stapled in the back for $8. {You can get them even cheaper with staples on the side, and maybe cover with ribbon or something}.

I got out a dinner plate and chose a location for my 2 flowers {this would serve as a reference point for my first layer of petals} and then painted my turquoise centers.  EASY, right?



Next is the part I forgot to photograph with the large white coffee filters, so I re-created here with my smaller unbleached filters.  Fold the filter in half, then quarters.  Cut out the center of the filter {no need to draw the line first}, then cut the 3 folds to yield 4 pieces.
 

Next I did a little pre-shaping by gathering the inner curved edge and pinching with my fingers.  As I went along I realized I wanted a little shaping on the outer edge, too, so I started doing a little “pinching of the outer curve here and there.

Now, for the fun and messy part! Starting with the outer most part of the flower {using my dinner plate circles as a reference} I started puttin’ down the petals.  I brushed some ModPodge on the canvas, placed my shaped pieces of coffee filter down, then brushed more ModPodge over the top.  I repeated around the circle {overlapping the edges}, then started moving toward the center overlapping each subsequent circle slightly over the previous one.

After the ModPodge dried I realized that my pencil lines were showing through, so I decided to paint over my flower petals with 2 coats of white acrylic paint.And that’s where the photos stopped…after allowing the last coat of paint to dry overnight the next step needed to go quickly, so I couldn’t photograph it myself and just didn’t think to ask the hubby to do it for me.  SO, I brushed the java-tinted glaze I had leftover from this project {equal parts mixing glaze and paint} over the blank areas of the canvas, including the sides, wiping excess off with a dry rag* and reapplying until I got the look I wanted {*if I did it again, I might used a damp rag to mute the brush strokes even more}.  Then, using the same glaze I dry-brushed over the flowers {dip the tip of the brush in the glaze, then dab excess off onto a rag or paper towel before lightly brushing on the flowers}.  The FINAL step was a quick spray of non-yellowing satin clear coat.  Here are some “after” shots:

   











 


Voila…a 22 x 28 inch piece of spring/summer artwork for about 10 bucks! My family and I love it {and we’re the ones who have to look at it every day}.

I’m linking up with Layla over at the Lettered Cottage…so go check out some more fun How To’s!

{She’s got a great one herself today!!}

Thanks for visiting...have a Beautiful day {especially if it gets a little Crazy}!