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DIY projects can be daunting when you start out. This one most definitely will shoot to the top of your Easy DIY projects list!
As someone that proclaims she’s not artistic and regularly tells people she can’t even draw a stick figure, I promise you will be astounded with how EASY this DIY art project is to complete.
This project can be extremely budget friendly. I personally used a piece of art that I had around my house that I no longer liked. You are going to learn everything from how to reuse a piece of art you already own, what types of paint I used to create this masterpiece and different materials that can be used to give it a bit more glam!
This post is all about how to create Easy DIY projects of your own.
I am in love with my new DIY canvas art piece! I went in confidently and I’m so pleased with how it turned out! I can’t believe how easy this was to complete and how little thought was needed! I’m perfectionist and struggle to let go, but in my quest to being FEARLESS this year, I took the bull by the horns and decided I had nothing to lose and everything to gain in creating this DIY canvas art piece. Abstract art, in theory, couldn’t be that difficult, right?! Well I’m here to tell you that if I can do it, you can too!
Supplies List (contains affiliate links. I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you, if you click the link and make a purchase. I only recommend products that I genuinely love and would use again and again! Thanks so much for your support!)
An old piece of art you want to repurpose (You can always go to goodwill/salvation army/habitat restore and purchase an old piece of art to repurpose!)
Spray Paint (Rustoleum has so many color options! I used satin black for the frame)
Acrylic Paint in colors of your choosing (I used 2 bottles of white for the background and to make sure that the previous art was fully covered)
Acrylic Paint Set (Great set if you plan to do multiple projects!)
Popsicle Sticks (for mixing different shades)
Small Plastic Containers (for mixing paint)
Gold Leaf Sheets (alternatively you can also buy gold leaf flakes- I bought both, but much preferred the look of the sheets)
Saran Wrap or newspaper/paper
To see all items at once, check out my amazon storefront and the DIY Supplies list!
Here is my beauty as it stood. Insert eye roll! I was deciding whether to just donate it or save it for a yard sale in the spring and then it dawned on me to try and up-cycle the piece. No harm no foul if I hated it, well luckily I didn’t! The price tag was still on the back! I bought it from Ross Dress for Less probably in 2009 or 2010 for $70. If you don’t have a piece you want to redo, you can head any thrift store and should be able to score a nice piece.
I started off by gathering some leftover packing material i had laying around and some Saran Wrap. I used painters tape to cover the fabric border on the inside of the frame and then some packing paper and Saran Wrap to cover the center surface.
I then headed outside and placed my piece on cardboard so that I could spray paint it. I do my best work at night! This was roughly 1AM! Please read the directions on the can and only use in a well ventilated area. And obviously dress for a mess!
I let it dry overnight in my garage and painted the background white the next morning. It took about 2 of the white acrylic bottles to cover since my piece is pretty large. I knew I didn’t have to be perfect with this step since I’d be painting over it again during the next step with the colored paint.
Next was the fun part. Originally I was going to use different sized cardboard as “paint brushes’ and to get a different technique and look, but if you watch the video, you’ll noticed I ditched that idea pretty early. I honestly used 1 foam brush for all the blues and went from lightest to darkest and then just went to town. The strokes are meant to be random and go in different directions. I added a couple swirls for some added interest and dimension. I knew I wanted some white showing. I recommend just takin a step back every few minutes and make sure you like what you see! For this project i went for a lighter overall look. And didn’t use as much of the navy.
I let this stage dry for a couple hours before I tackled the gold leaf! I tried out the gold leaf flakes and the gold leaf sheets. I much prefer the look of the gold leaf sheets. Both were easy to apply. Apply a thin layer of modge podge to the area where the gold leaf will be placed. I then used my fingers to smooth out the gold leaf and glue it down.
Overall I spent about $20 on this project as I had most of the supplies on hand already. I already have plans to complete a few more of these!
Please tag me in any pieces of art you complete on IG! I can’t wait to see them!
XO, Crissy
“When do we stop being a worrier, and start becoming a warrior?” – Love on the Slopes (anybody else a Hallmark movie fan?!)
