Wooden Canvas

   Hi!  Recently, my sister got married and moved into a new apartment.  She's been decorating her new home, and informed me that she needed a large piece of art to go over her new fabulous sectional.  She said she was going to look at Goodwill or somewhere like that.  There's no doubt you can find pieces to use at places like that, but sometimes they need some work.  So being the person I am that loves a new project, I volunteered to make her a piece of art.
   She couldn't exactly tell me what size she wanted, so I was just going to have to "wing it."  I knew how much blank space she had over the couch, so I knew I could figure it out.  First, I took a trip to the craft store.  A nice canvas the size I wanted was almost $60!  I knew that wasn't going to work, so I headed to Lowe's.  I went to the precut plywood section.  (I couldn't get a large sheet because I was driving a small car.)  I looked at the available sizes and decided on a 2'x4' piece.  I didn't get the thickest piece because I thought it would be too heavy, and I didn't get luan (the really thin kind).  I got the in-between thickness.  I didn't want her to just have a piece of wood hanging on her wall: I wanted it to look like a canvas.  So I purchased half inch thick by two inch wide strips of wood.
   When I got to my dad's house, he and I put the wood together using small nails and wood glue.  We had to cut the wood strips to fit, and we carefully lined everything up to make sure there wouldn't be any cracks or overhangs.  Here's what the finished "canvas" looked like:

We used plywood squares to nail into so we didn't split the wood when nailing.

I filled any cracks with caulking.  (You could definitely use wood putty; I just didn't have any.)

   The total cost of the canvas was around $22.  That beats the craft store canvas price by a lot!  I painted it in the same way I painted the piece of art in my last post.  This was such a large piece of art, though, that I added a stenciled design.  (I used my Silhouette to make the stencil.  I LOVE that machine!!!)  I also glazed the final piece to give it a more aged, toned down look.  That's when I realized I loved the nooks and crannies of the wood because the glaze stayed in them.  I sealed the final piece with two coats of polyacrylic.

   I think it turned out pretty good.  I took it to my dad's house for my sister to pick up, and he threatened to keep it for himself!  :)  I promised to make him another one.  My sister got it yesterday, and she LOVES it!  These days, most people have to be on a budget, so I'm so glad I could make her the large piece of art she wanted for under $25!!!  You can't beat that price.  ;)