Faux mini canvas

We are so very excited to welcome the fabulously talented Lousette Ashton back to It's a creative world. I shall hand you over to Lousette and let her weave her magic.

A long time ago I bought several packs of small, very cheap IKEA photo frames, you know the ones that are 3 for £1 or something silly like that. I had grandiose ideas for them, but nothing ever came of it and they sat in a box under my bed for years (literally).

Then one day I saw a beautiful photo printed onto a canvas in a restaurant, and decided to have a go at making my own mini photo canvas using cotton printable fabric from Crafty Computer papers. These little faux canvasses are cute as gifts, and also great for photos that are maybe not good enough for normal printing as the texture of the cotton disguises grain or other flaws.

You will need: Small wooden picture frame Plain white cardstock Spray mount or Photo mount Printable cotton sheet Double sided tape Tacky, PVA or other wet glue Scissors and craft knife

Step 1

Remove the glass form the photo frame. If you have a very dark coloured frame you might want to give it a quick coat with white acrylic paint.

Step 2 Measure the outside dimensions of the frame. Crop a photo to these exact dimensions and print out onto cotton paper. I find it sometimes help to adhere the cotton to a sheet of ordinary printer paper using removable adhesive. Although the cotton has a backing sheet attached to it, it is still quite thin and my printer couldn’t feed the sheet properly on its own.

Step 3 Use double sided tape to cover the front of the frame with plain white cardstock. Trim the cardstock to size. (I always use a bigger piece of card and then trim afterwards using my craft knife instead of cutting the cardstock to size first).

Step 4 & 5 Spray the cardstock with photo mount, remove the backing sheet from the cotton and drape over the frame. The photo mount gives you the chance to reposition the image until it is perfectly placed. Press down gently to make sure the cotton adheres to the cardstock.

Step 6 Cover the sides of the frame with double sided tape and fold the cotton over. Make sure it is nice and taut. Fold each side over onto the back of the frame, mark with a pencil and trim off the excess cotton.

Step 7 & 8 Use double sided tape to finally glue the remaining cotton onto the back of the frame, making sure the corners are tucked neatly on the sides. Glue the excess fabric of the corners down onto the back with tacky glue. Hold for a few seconds until the fabric stays in place.

Decorate the front with embellishments or rub-ons if you wish, or simply leave as is.

Thank you so much Lousette and what a fantastic gift for the children to give relatives at Christmas.

If, like us, you've been inspired by Lousette please let us know. We love to see all your creations. And just a reminder: We will be off line on Friday the 30th November for our move over to typepad!! Please be sure to pop back on Saturday the 1st December for the link to our new home.