I made some DIY vintage silverware wall art the other day and I wanted to show you how I layered a canvas to give me the art I was looking for…also, I wanted to talk to you just a bit about layering…in design and in life.
It all started when I was working on the Breakfast Room. I learned a lot while planning out that room! I had in mind a couple of vintage-look fork and spoon prints for over the windows. Those should be easy to find right?
(Video Tutorial at the end)
Wrong. I couldn’t find them anywhere so I decided to make something!
The burlap & white painted canvases that are everywhere these days, seemed like a good place to start, but since I wanted them to have a vintage/French Country vibe I needed to tone down that white paint…and the best way to do that would be to layer…
So this is a little layering technique that you can use on art projects for any room with any style…
Layering is so important in all areas of design. Whether it’s layering a table setting or an outfit, decorating a room or planning a party…one design element builds on another to bring together the ideal outcome. And now that I mention it, life is kinda like that too isn’t it?
Goals are not usually met instantly, lessons are rarely learned the first time around…most things that are worth achieving, worth learning, come to us in steps…or layers. At least that’s how it is with me 🙂
So layers…they are a good thing.
If you’re feeling pretty good about the concept of layering and have a couple of seconds, I’d love to show you this easy project, because even if you don’t need vintage silverware on your wall…you can use this little layering decoupage technique for any kind of art!
Here’s What You’ll Need:
*Burlap Covered-Painted Canvas
*Poster w/ the images you choose
*Pattern Tissue Paper
*Americana Decou-Page (Glue-Sealer-Finish)
*Americana Multi Surface Metallic – Champagne
*Americana Multi Surface Metallic Silver
*Brushes
The canvases that are burlap covered and painted, have a bright white color…to tone down the color I used watered down DecoArt Multi Surface Metallic paint in Champagne…
Just paint over the entire canvas-both the burlap parts and the painted surface…
The result is a softer look and lends itself to my vintage theme…
When the paint is dry, I added my tissue paper …
First, tear the tissue along the edges, allowing just a bit of the painted edge to show…
Then paint the canvas with the Decou-Page medium and gently lay the tissue paper over the canvas…
Paint a coat of the Decou-Page on top of the tissue and let it dry…
Hasn’t this canvas come a long way from that bright white rectangle we started with?
So far, I’ve layered the canvas with watered down paint and tissue paper…now for the next layer: our images!
I cut out the vintage silverware from the posters and decided where I wanted them on my canvas…
I added some Decou-Page to the back of the images and pressed them onto the canvas. (I DIDN’T put Decou-Page on top of the images just yet!)
When all of my images were in place, I added another layer. Watered down Americana Multi Surface Metallic Silver. I simply painted the silver over the images and then the rest of the canvas. The (watered down) silver softened and lightened the dark color of the images…
Only one more layer! I finished my canvas with another coat of Decou-Page…
These turned out great and really, you could use this technique for art in any room…just find images you like and then use those images as inspiration for your tissue paper and paint colors!
Whenever I look at these, I think of all the layers it took to make them into the just-right pieces of art for my breakfast room. And that makes me feel better about some things in my life. Things that are not like I want them at the moment, but layer upon layer I’m getting closer.
Do you have things in your life like that sweet friends?
If you missed my Breakfast Room Reveal click over HERE
~And if you like your creative juice in video form…here’s the video I did of this project~
~ My buds at DecoArt sent me the paint and the Decou-Page ~
Linking with Uncommon Design
Where did you buy the canvas and the posters? What a great project!
Robin, Thank you! I found both the canvas and the poster at good old Hobby Lobby! ox
Wow! I love these prints! I’m looking for some inspiration for some art niches in my house and these would look fabulous! I guess I need to start looking for those fork and spoon posters. 🙂
Anne, I found mine at Hobby Lobby! Good luck friend ox
This looks great Robin, you always come up with different ideas. Thank you!
Thanks so much Diana~ Have a great week friend xo
This is gorgeous – I just love this wall art idea. Thanks for the easy to follow tutorial as well 🙂 I’m so glad your link caught my eye at the Monday Funday Party.
Marie, I’m so happy to meet you!And so glad you like my little project ~ Have a wonderful evening! ox
It truly adds a new dimension to your space- I found my eye drawn up to the pretty prints right away. Such great instructions and I love how it reminds you of life and lessons to live by as well. Thankful for your keen perspective friend!
Vicky, thank you bunches…so happy that your eye was drawn up… 🙂 Have a lovely day my sweet friend ox
Too cute Robin! Love them…
Leslie
I am always surprised, Robin, when I come to visit your blog. Your unique ideas inspire and motivate both me and my daughters! Enjoy your day, dear friend! xxoo
Never seen anything like this! Once again, I learned SO much from you…watching your lovely video now…xoxo
Robin…you are truly an artist. So good at mentally visualizing what you want your finished project to be. I love these!
Just beautiful! You are so talented! My question is, where did you find the beautiful tissue? I saw Hobby Lobby had a baroque design, which I like, but really liked the one you used.
Debbie, thank you soooo much! I found mine at Home Goods! HG and TJMax often have something similar…and maybe if you googled you could find other sources! ox