From Start to Finish

I love a pretty color pallet. I was almost convinced that I would paint our front door a soft pink. So convinced even, that I bought the paint for it. My sister encouraged me to keep the original door as is, however, and so to appease my craving for the color pink, I dreamed up a plan.

As I was digging through a box of fabric, I came across a sturdy and beautiful white cloth that came from a friend. It occurred to me that it was canvas, and I realized that I had almost everything I needed to construct and stretch my own paint canvas! What an exciting thought! 

Before getting started, I popped over to our local Joann Fabric's with my 60% off coupon to buy Gesso so that I could properly prime the canvas. I also picked up some wood glue, which we were out of, and a small bottle of hot pink acrylic paint. Fun fact: I spent $8 on this entire project! Whaaat?

As soon as the kids were all asleep, I took the boards that belonged to a little A-frame tent I had made several years ago, that rarely got used, and cut them at 45 degree angles (with my husband's help, because the Skill Saw makes me nervous) for the frame. I used a good ol' staple gun with wood glue at each joint to put the whole thing together. From there, I did my very best to stretch and pull the canvas as I continued to staple down the fabric. It wasn't perfect, but it was adequate. I made the frame as large as I could with the fabric I had, which ended up being around 40"x 28" roughly.

The next step was applying the Gesso. I covered the frame with one generous coat and then let it dry overnight. The next day, I painted a second coat, let it dry thoroughly, and then traced a giant stencil I had made to ensure the shape of the flamingo was perfect. Then came the paint, the fun part! I looked at dozens of beautiful pictures of flamingos, and was truly awestruck by them. What a fabulous animal! I tried my very best to capture their true personality, without getting too detailed or technical.

I am incredibly pleased with how the whole project turned out! Stretching a canvas is totally doable. I have enjoyed having a splash of pink to brighten up our living room, and I know it's just a matter of time till there's a bit of pink in every corner!