Scrap Fabric Wall Art

Sometimes it's fun to change up your current wall decor. Going from store to store to look for the perfect item is not quite as fun. So why not make your own? If you follow this simple tutorial, you can make your very own custom made wall art in about 20 minutes!

I spend quite a bit of time in my craft room/office. I love the yellow color of the walls, it puts me in a cheery mood. The only problem is that I haven't done any decorating in there. I decided that my walls needed a little color. What better way to add a fun decor piece than making it myself?

I looked through my paints thinking that I would paint a picture or a quote. Then I noticed a pile of my fabrics that I was getting ready to put away.

Aren't they lovely? I looked at them and decided that i needed to use them in this project. I still have quite a bit of fabric left over and may make a pillow for the love seat in my craft room. Be on the lookout for another project with these wonderful fabrics!
*** This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase an item, a small portion of the sale will come to me to help keep Home Crafts by Ali running. ***

Supplies Needed
Canvas

fabric pieces - scraps or small yardage
Scissors
Craft Mat
Mod Podge - matte finish
sponge brush
ribbon
thumb tacks

My supplies list says to use matte finish Mod Podge, but my photo is of the gloss version. I couldn't find my matte bottle (time for a trip to the craft store) and used gloss instead. Your fabric has small holes and if you add too much of the Mod Podge, it will come through a bit. That is what happened for me on my purple piece of fabric and I would have rather had a non-gloss finish show through. If you are careful with the amount of Mod Podge you use, you shouldn't have a problem.

I listed an Amazon link for purchasing canvases. My best finds have been at the thrift store though! People buy a printed canvas for their kids who lose interest or they finish a painting themselves and don't like it anymore, then drop it off at the thrift store. You can pick up a good quality canvas for .50 and just paint it white, or use a darker set of fabric so the painting underneath doesn't show through. My canvas had a print of a robot that a child had partially colored before donating it. It was easy to paint 2 layers of white and have it almost look like new!

Directions

I did not create a pattern for this project. I started out by laying my fabrics with a corner onto the canvas so I could see how they all looked together. I cut random shapes of fabric and lay them out on my canvas. It was kind of like putting together a puzzle to see how all the shapes of fabric fit together. Trim as you go so there is just a small overlapping of fabric. Make sure when you are planning to have the darkest overlay on the top.

Spread out your craft mat so you don't get the glue on your crafting surface. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge with the sponge brush to the back of the fabric. Place on the canvas and smooth gently so it does not have any bubbles and lays flat. You may have to apply a bit more to the edges on the back side of the fabric to seal it properly.

Let your fabric dry completely (about an hour). Place your canvas on the wall and decide how long you want the ribbon to be when hanging. Cut the length of ribbon and attach to the back of the canvas with a thumb tack. Thumb tacks have the flat head, so they are better to use than a pushpin which sticks out.

Hang on the wall and you are done! You just made your very own wall art!

If you don't want to hang your fabric covered canvas, don't bother attaching the ribbon. You can place on a shelf with some of your other decor.

 Here's a shopping guide for you to purchase the items needed to make this project in your own home.

This fun project is a quick one and you do not need any specialized skills to make this yourself. It would be fun to buy small canvases, take the kids to the fabric store to pick out a few pieces of fabric, then let them create their own wall art for their room.

            

I hope you found this tutorial helpful and it gave you some ideas on a project you can make for your home. If you end up making this, I would love it if you shared on my Facebook page so I could see!