The reverse canvas DIY projects have hit Pinterest hard (or maybe just the boards I follow) and it was about time that I got on the train and made one!  The basic premise is to take the canvas off of the frame, paint / stain the frame, do something to the canvas and then reattach the canvas to the frame with the frame showing on the outside, instead of wrapped underneath like it started.

Last weekend 2 of my good friends had birthdays and we were celebrating with a happy hour so I grabbed 2 canvases from Hobby Lobby (for $4) and knocked out some birthday gifts for them!

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Reverse Canvas Home Sign

What you’ll need:

First, take the canvas off the frame.  On the back of the framed canvas, use your scissors and score the frame between the staples and the edge.  Then remove the strips of canvas (discard these) and keep the 1 big square.  Flatten it and put it to the side.

Flip the frame over and paint or stain it!  Make sure to paint 3 sides of the frame, just not the back.  I decided to paint one black and one gold to go with the colors of the design that would be on the canvas.  The gold needed 2 coats so you couldn’t see the wood through it.  Put that to the side and let it dry.

Open Design Space to create your design. I opted for something simple that could work for our neighbors: The state of South Carolina with “home.” cut out in the middle.  Insert the state and then write out “home.” and layer it on top.  Select both the words and the state and slice them, then delete the excess words so you have 1 image with the words cut out.  Make sure to mirror the design on your mat since you’ll be ironing it on the canvas.

Put your htv shiny side down on the mat, load it and cut it!

Now, weed out the excess vinyl with the weeder tool.  Plug your EasyPress in and set it to 270 degrees and 40 seconds.  Place the weeded design on your canvas and click the C to start the timer.

Slowly remove the clear top from the htv.  Now cut the excess canvas.  It needs to be just smaller than the size of the frame and you can probably use some of the fold marks as a guide.

Finally, staple the canvas back to the frame so the design shows through the middle of the painted side of the frame.  I have a normal stapler and this took a few tries to get the hang of how to position it to get the staples to go through the wood and keep the canvas in place. If you have a staple gun, that might be a little easier, but both wield the same results!

This took just over an hour from start to finish and was easily achieved in an afternoon before we headed down the street to celebrate the birthday girls!  It was a great smaller project to start and learn about the reverse canvas method.  Now I’m ready for a bigger one!

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