Sarah's Crafty Ramblings: ABC Canvas

There is quite the baby boom going on at my office...and being the crafter that I am and the fact that I adore babies, I have been crafting up some fun gifts. I am trying to make sure as I create new gifts that I take lots of photos of the process to share with you, so that perhaps, you might be so inclined to try it yourself. :) Some of the best ideas I've gotten have been shared with me by others. You take that idea and you make it your own...that's why I love crafting so much! Anyways, I'll get off my soap box and get on with the project at hand!

This adorable ABC Canvas was a gift for co-worker Kim Crawford who just had her baby shower today.

Here are the supplies that you'll need:

Gloss Mod Podge
Paper Mod Podge
Scrap newspaper
Paper cuter
Scissors
Paint brushes (at least 2-3)
Small foam brush
Xacto knife
An 8x10 canvas
Small scrap of card stock
1 sheet of alphabet scrapbook paper (I found this one at Joann Fabric's. I also bought 2 sheets just in case)
A small stapler or staple gun (I suggest staple gun as this will save you much frustration. That's going to be one of my next purchases!)
Staples
Ironing board
Iron
Fabric (Coordinating with whichever scrapbook paper you pick out.) Fabric should be large enough to cover the entire canvas plus a little bit extra. Helpful Tip: I like to shop at Joann's for this as well, because they have a great selection of small fabric samples and they are arranged by color!
Ribbon (Should coordinate with both fabric and scrapbook paper)

I like to lay out all the supplies I'm going to work with (I use my nice big dining room table as my work space. Make sure you have plenty of room! I used half my table for the project and half for folding laundry. A girl's gotta multi task! I also like to have something to drink near me and put on some music to craft to.

Here are your first steps. As you can see in the photo above the scrapbook paper I chose had not just one of each letter, there were several of each, so I took my time cutting out each piece using my handy dandy paper cutter and chose which ones would work best for this project. I chose both upper and lower case letters and added numbers 1-10 at the end. It is best to lay them out on your canvas to make sure that they fit well and then just move them onto another scrap of paper of to the side. Once you have done that you can start by ironing out your fabric. It does not need to be perfect as you are going to be glueing it down to the canvas in another minute, but it helps make that process a bit smoother. :)

Using your regular gloss Mod Podge and your foam brush, coat your canvas (just the front side with Mod Podge). Then you'll lay your fabric down (centered so that you'll have enough fabric to cover the back). Smooth out any bubbles. Next you'll start adding MP to each side (one at a time) and basically it's like wrapping a present. You'll end up with extra fabric at the back, but that's okay. This is where you'll use your Xacto knife. Before you get to that part make sure you are coating the top of the fabric with your MP to seal in down. You'll want to MP the part of the extra fabric that goes over your canvas that you'll be cutting off. (There's a method to my madness, I promise!) Let this dry for a bit. Maybe 20 minutes or so. When you come back with your Xacto knife you have a nice stiff fabric with will cut away quite easily.

The next step is laying down your alphabet. As shown in the photo below I did just this portion first (sans glue) to see how it would fit and then glued that section first so I'd know how to evenly space the rest of my letters.

I did not MP the top of the fabric. There was no need since I was adding the Paper MP to each piece of my alphabet. I coated the back with a paintbrush, laid it down, and then immediately coated the top. Once you are done with all the pieces and your canvas is filled, go back over each row with your Paper MP and give it another coat. This will seal everything in nicely. Take a break and let this dry for a while. When you're ready to finish your canvas open up your regular gloss MP have your foam brush on hand and your coordinating ribbon.

Starting at one of your ends use your foam brush to put on an even coat of MP to adhere your ribbon to. Do this all the way around your canvas. I even like to coat the top of the ribbon with MP to really make sure it stays put, but you don't have to. Next you'll flip it down so the back of the canvas is facing you so you can put on your hanger.