And you thought all the nursery chatter was over! No way, we have so much more to do in that sweet little room. Today's post features an easy way to create simple and stunning larger wall art. Take a big ol' canvas (like our hot turquoise mess that we painted together years ago) and cover it with fabric. And readers, that's pretty much what we have here today. Nothing fancy. Nothing hard to DIY by any means, but maybe an option you hadn't thought of.
You know that big empty space above your dining room table or how about that massive space in your master bedroom...do this! Head to your local fabric store and grab the right amount of fabric to cover it, plus make sure to leave 5 good inches on each side to staple the fabric to the back. Then check your local thrift, re-store or Goodwill for big canvases. Remember, it doesn't matter what's on it and if you choose a darker/thicker fabric (like we did) then the print most likely won't show through. If it does, you can back it with an inexpensive muslin or cotton for extra non-see-through padding.
Read on to see how we achieved exactly the look we were after.
So I'm sure you noticed the massive piece of IKEA fabric draping over our canvas in this picture featured on an earlier post. You probably even thought we had lost our minds if we thought a) that looked attractive and b) it would be safe NOT secured to the wall. Well, we just wanted to make sure the colors and look of the fabric were what we wanted in that above crib space. Plus we wanted a non-glass/non-mirrored element above his crib for safety purposes so a fabric wrapped canvas was the perfect option.
Ironing time. Make sure to iron out all the wrinkles in your fabric before placing it around your canvas and securing it. They are actually super obvious so take this extra step.
We laid out the fabric exactly how we wanted it. Now scan back up to the draping picture above. See how this awesome fabric from IKEA has an unfinished look? That's what we loved! We love that it almost looked like a 'rule of thirds' painting with the top half, un-finished. But instead of putting the plain brown part at the top, we wanted to line it up on the bottom. You'll see what I mean in a second. Moving on...
We made sure the fabric was exactly where we wanted it on the canvas and then I carefully/gingerly cut the fabric with some leeway for mistakes. See, I left about a 4-5 inch border just in case we had to move it around a smidge. We took one last look at the fabric placement and then Walt got down to business securing the fabric in place.
And Zola found her hiding spot, ha! She hates (and I mean hates) the staple gun. There are so many loud power tools in our house going all the time that you'd think they would phase her anymore. This is the one tool that she literally trembles about in the corner, poor pup! So Walt started securing the fabric on the back of the canvas to the wooden frame and it really did start to take shape. You want to pull the fabric taut but not tight!
Walt did present wrapped corners and you can see him over there, on the other side, holding the fabric taut before adding another staple. It kind of is an art-form and my man has it down pat.
And yes, even he made a few blunders as we had to remove some staples and try again. The ol' Leatherman got to make an appearance for staple removal-ness.
And here she is, the finished product. Don't you love how it looks like the leaves are just dripping down the canvas now? We opted for the dripping/natural effect rather than the other way around, which is how we actually had it placed, at first (look above at the second draping pic!)
So here it is completed but we have something to admit. We totally have something else up our sleeves to surprise you with in order to complete this nursery wall art. Ahhhh, we're so smitten with it, we want to scream! We hope to be DONE with this project this weekend and can't wait to share this awesome 'above the crib' creation with you next week! Enjoy!
PS - How about that baby bump? Holy mackeral, hilarious! And how good, tired and preggers do I look? BRING IT, baby...it's been brought! This Bub's totally makes a Momma tired some days but hey...I guess it's good practice for what's to come, right-o?
