Thanksgiving is a close contender behind Christmas in my favorite holidays list. We have a great Thanksgiving Eve tradition of pie-making, followed by delicious food and fun games with my extended family on Thanksgiving day. To remind me of all the things I love about Thanksgiving throughout the fall season, I experimented with a new-to-me vinyl art technique this week as part of my monthly Expressions Vinyl Ambassador Challenge.
I’ve been wanting to try vinyl on canvas for months and this was the perfect opportunity.
I started my project with an inexpensive 12×12 clearance canvas from one of Michael’s big sales, along with vinyl from Expression Vinyl’s Thanksgiving Pack, and Metalized Brushed Gold vinyl.
I thought about using the natural canvas color as the background, but decided to darken it up with some craft paint. I started with a solid coat of cream paint.
Then I went over the top of it with a combo of copper and brown paint. I wanted some texture to the background, so I was not going for a solid coat this time.
You’ll notice that the final version is a little lighter than the picture above. I loved the way it looked, but thought the color was too similar to the nut brown vinyl, which is a burnt orange color. I went back over the canvas one last time and blended in some more of the ivory paint.
Once the canvas was finished, it was time to decide what I wanted my new art to say. I thought a little alliteration would be fun. I’m also quite certain that is the first time in my life I’ve referred to anything related to an English class as fun!
I came up with five matching Thanksgiving phrases and typed them into Silhoutte Studio. From there, I tried several fonts and color schemes until I came up with my favorite combo.
I cut out and weeded all the phrases, then had to figure out how to line them up on my canvas. Yikes!
Instead of placing them one at a time, I decided to transfer all five at once. I started by tracing my canvas onto a piece of foam board. Then I added vertical and horizontal center lines as guides. I placed my “Gather Together” first, measuring to make sure it was centered. As I got each piece in the perfect spot, I taped it to my foam board with washi tape.
Once all five phrases were taped down, I used one sheet of transfer paper to move the words to the canvas. Using a stretched canvas for vinyl is tricky because you can’t apply very much pressure. To make sure my letters stuck, I flipped the canvas over and applied pressure to the back before peeling off my transfer paper.
I had to pull the transfer paper off very slowly to get the letters to stay on the canvas, but it did work!
There was definitely a moment when I thought the vinyl was not going to stick, but peeling very slowly seemed to be key. The end result was worth the brief panic. I’ve read that it works well to ModgePodge over canvas vinyl art to make sure the letters stay down, but I haven’t done it yet. So far my new sign is holding up well as is.
I’m so in love with the brushed gold vinyl! I think it takes the whole sign up a couple notches.
For more fall ideas, check out my fall house tour.
Darla Bunyan says
I HAVE to win this, my project list is HUGE for the holidays! Love Expressions Vinyl, and these blogs too! Shared on FB, Tweeted, Pinterest, Google+
Darla Bunyan says
Oh my fave fall activity is taking the fam to the pumpkin patch!
Melissa George says
Good luck Darla!!!
Darla Bunyan says
Thank you sweetie!
Raquel says
That is really beautiful. I really need to invest in a silouette. Nicely done Melissa! I see on twitter you are going to SNAP, I so want to get there sometime – it looks amazing.
Melissa George says
SNAP is well worth the cost Raquel – I went for the first time last year and learned a ton, met some great brands, and had a GREAT time with new friends!
Lori says
I have only just started to use my silhouette and I finally did some vinyl on an ornament and I love it! I can’t seem to find any colors of vinyl around here, so I guess I have to order it. It sure would be awesome to win some though!! 🙂
Lori says
Oh and my favorite fall activity is having bonfires and roasting marshmallows. It’s my favorite season!
Sherri says
I love this project, so sweet! What I love most about Thanksgiving is having our college boys home for a few days. We love every minute of the noise, piles of laundry and stream of kids in and out of the house. Love every minute of it 🙂
Jessie says
Sweaters!
Lynnsy says
my favorite fall activity is getting ready for Halloween!
Bess Couture says
Apple picking is definitely my favorite fall activity! Love this project – might need to try canvas this weekend!
Donna says
My favorite thing about fall is opening in the windows and enjoying the beautiful breezes flowing through my house. My favorite thing to do in fall is planning my youngest’s birthday party! He will be 13 on Oct 30th so Halloween is doubly celebrated. I love making decorations and treats so that his party is spooktacular fun!
Jodi Keelng says
oh so hope i win! Thanks
Michelle s says
I love the look of the gold vinyl. It’s so classy. I didn’t realize they made vinyl in that color. Great job!
Angela, blue i style says
You’re art turned out great! My favorite fall activity is playing in the leaves with my boys!
Lindsay Eidahl says
Anything fall related is my favorite thing to do! 😉
Glenna @ My Paper Craze says
Thanks for the great giveaway Melissa!
Wendy n says
Our favorite fall activity is watching the leaves turn colors!
jill says
This year, my favorite fall activity was taking my baby girl to the pumpkin patch for the first time!
Jennifer K. says
I love making my kids Halloween costumes.
Rachelle says
I love looking at the leaves changing color
Courtney @ Crafts by Courtney says
Wow this project looks great!! I made sure to enter the giveaway, this is something that i could totally use!!
Terry says
I love to decorate for Fall, indoors and out. And I just tried my hand at vinyl on canvas and I too am hooked!