Song Canvas

Last year, I fell in love with Scotty McCreery's voice when he auditioned for American Idol. It just so happened that my husband & I got married last summer after the release of his first single, "I Love You This Big." My husband & I both agreed that this would be the song we would dance to for our first dance at our reception.

This song holds a special place in both of our hearts because we did get married so young. (I was 19 and he was 20). We just love the lyrics, "I know I'm still young, but I know how I feel." So for our 8 month wedding anniversary (I just couldn't wait any longer!) I decided to make a sentimental gift for my husband, Cole, that incorporated our song.

I had seen several ideas on Pinterest that involved holding up your wedding date, baby's birth date, etc. in a photo & using Mod Podge to adhere the photo to a canvas, so I came up with my own idea. I took a picture of myself holding up each word to the song: I -- LOVE -- YOU -- THIS -- BIG.

While the 4x6 photos were being printed at Walgreens, I went to Michaels to buy my supplies. I got a pack of (9) 4x4 canvases for about $12. They are originally $20, but I used a 40% off coupon. I also got some Matte Mod Podge for about $5 (The cashier let me do two different transactions so I could use the 40% coupon again. Normally the Mod Podge is about $8). I already had a hot glue gun, ribbon, foam brush, & paint, but you can pick up all of these supplies for less than $10.

Below is a picture of the supplies you will need:

 

 

First, I painted each canvas with the same acrylic paint I used to monogram the white buckets for our wedding. While the paint was drying, I cut the photos from 4x6 format to 4x4 format so they would fit on the canvases. Once the paint was dry, I used the foam brush to lightly brush Mod Podge onto the canvas as well as the back of the photo. Once I placed the photo onto the canvas the way I liked, I applied a coat of Mod Podge onto the top of the photo as well. I ended up applying two thin layers of Mod Podge onto the top of each photo because I wanted the photos to have a nice texture to them.

 

Once the Mod Podge was dry, I cut a piece of ribbon that stretched across the back of each canvas. I laid a piece of contract paper down & measured how far apart I wanted the canvases to be. (I didn't take pictures during the process of making this, but here is a picture displaying this step without the contract paper).

 

I used my hot glue gun to adhere the ribbon to the canvases. Although you can see the hot glue through the ribbon, it won't matter once the canvas is hanging on the wall. Once the glue dried, I had my finished piece. I used push pins to hang it up so that the canvases would be secure against the wall. It was much easier than trying to hang a nail for each canvas to sit on. This project looks great displayed in our bedroom! Now when Cole looks in the mirror each morning, he is constantly reminded of how much I love him. :)