Octopus Reverse Canvas ~ Pinterest Challenge

Kristie Hudson

5 years ago

Welcome to the July Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop, hosted by My Pinterventures. The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all the participants of this hop {and y’all too} to not just pin, but to make it happen! Look below for a list of past challenges. This month I decided to make an octopus reverse canvas because it looked like fun!

Past Challenges

The current list for 2019 challenges is below & you can check out this post for a list of 2018 challenges.

This pin from Where the Smiles Have Been is a new addition to one of my Pinterest boards, but it seemed like a fun one to try this month. It also seemed like an easy one to try since I was pressed for time! The post was a roundup of different versions of a reverse canvas, with the first on the list being from the blogger herself. Most of them used HTV or heat transfer vinyl for their motifs. I decided to try something a little different!

Let’s meet this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosts!

My Pinterventures • Cookies Coffee and Crafts
Sew Crafty Crochet • Eye Love Knots • My Sweet Things
Across the Boulevard • Suzerspace • Purple Hues and Me
Decorate and More with Tip • Mom Home Guide
Our Unschooling Journey • Intelligent Domestications
Craftify My Love • Life Beyond the Kitchen • K’s Olympic Nest
Teadoddles • Farm Girl Reformed • Simple Nature Decor
Stone Cottage Adventures

To join next month’s #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ August Pinterest Challenge

Reversing the Frame

I’ve had this two pack of canvases hanging around for a while now. The one in the front got damaged when I was moving things around, but I still had one without a hole. I’ll save the other for another project idea!

My canvases were stapled on the side, unlike the ones in the original post. I found it easier to just pull it off – very….slowly! When I tried to use the hobby knife, it kept slipping & trying to poke a hole in my canvas. Of course that’s probably just my uncoordinated self…. : D

I wanted the frame to have a darker coat of paint first, so I combined this dark blue & black. This just gives it a little more depth than straight black.

Surprisingly, it coated the unfinished wood quite well! I thought it would soak up the paint, but it really didn’t.

Once that coat dried, I dry brushed a coat of sea glass blue on the tops & sides. I’ve had this paint forever it seems!

While I waited for that to dry, I started on the canvas. Well really I worked on it in between paint coats, but that doesn’t flow as well in a blog post! ; )

Octopus Reverse Canvas

The week of the 4th of July, I visited the Georgia Aquarium with my son, parents, & family friends. I was blown away by the amazing glimpses into underwater life. One of my favorites to see was the elusive octopus! He kept hiding from us, but I finally got to see him up close.

Anyway, that’s part of the reason I decided to do use an octopus image for this project. First, I wanted to make a background using this circle stencil & some new colors of Extreme Sheen I added to my collection.

I just laid it across diagonally & dabbed a little blue, then purple, then silver. The pink got left out, but I think it would have worked still.

I moved the stencil around until I had covered the whole canvas…

Next I decided to try something I had never done before – print on canvas! I trimmed the edges off the canvas & ironed wax paper on the back of it. This was to help make the canvas sturdier so it would go through the printer. I ironed it with the canvas face down so I wouldn’t be in direct contact with the paint. Then I picked out an octopus image from the Graphics Fairy, put everything in the print, & hoped it would work…

It did y’all! I’m so happy with how this turned out! Just look at all the detail & shiny bubbles…

I’m so glad this didn’t turn into a disaster because I don’t know what I would have done!

Finishing Up…

Time to put the octopus in his box! I decided to use double sided tape instead of hot glue. It seem the less messy & burn-my-fingers route!

Looks like it’s trying to get out of the box! I added some gold wax rub to the edges, but I think it needs something a little more…

I dug through my box of seashells & found some that were aged just right. A little e6000 & this frame is all done!

Y’all this was still drying when I took this picture, but I can’t wait to put it up on my mantel shelf for the rest of the summer! I really liked trying out this reverse canvas thing. It’s such a different way to look at a canvas! : )