Easy DIY Fabric Panel Wall Art

Sometimes you need an easy win craft project.  I just haven't had loads of time to make many intricate or frivolous things this summer, so most of my projects have the "need to do" kind.  My Easy DIY Fabric Panel Wall Art is one of them.

A year ago we completely renovated our downstairs bathroom.  An over the toilet cabinet was removed so we ended up with a big blank wall space on one wall.  I just couldn't find the right thing to put there to "finish" the room.   I didn't want a bunch of stuff on shelves that would get dusty or potentially fall in the toilet.  I'd deliberately chosen neutral grey, white and cream shades for my teens who primarily use this bathroom.  But when it was done I felt like it was too stark.  

Then I had the idea to turn a fabric panel into the perfect decorative solution.  It's a small change, but it's had a big impact:

I fell in love with this Grateful Cotton Blossom fabric panel.  I'd ordered it to carry in my shop and had impatiently waited many months for the bolt to come in.  Even though I'm not usually an "on-trend" design kind of girl, the pretty cotton blossoms, weathered shiplap background and combination of colors all appealed to me.  I knew I had to make something with it.

I also loved the photo-realistic burlap bow on the wreath.  Since this is hanging in a bathroom it's ideal- there's the look of a real bow, but won't get damp or dusty!

It seemed the perfect way to add a splash of color and home-y-ness to our previously too boring bathroom.  

I'd done a similar faux painting fabric wall art project a few years back for our foyer, except that used home decor fabric and had some additional dimensional paint detailing.  This one was even quicker to do.

Materials:
- Fabric panel (mine is available here)
- Blank canvas (mine was 22"x28")*
- Iron
- Staple gun
- Picture hanging materials 

* Make sure the fabric panel will wrap around to the back of the canvas - having at least 2 inches of play from the canvas dimensions is ideal.

Start with a fabric panel and blank canvas.  Iron the panel smooth to get it as wrinkle-free and flat as possible.  No need to prewash.

Wrap the panel over the canvas until you get the spacing you like and it's nice & straight.  I had the wreath to make it easy to center mine:

To keep things from shifting out of place while stapling, or when flipping the canvas over, use small clips on the sides and remove as you go.  This is key when you have horizontal stripes like this:

Flip the canvas over onto a solid flat surface.  The floor is ideal to get right up over it for good leverage with the staple gun.  Pull the fabric taut against the canvas frame and, if possible, fold the raw edges under (but as it's the back that no one will see, it's not necessary).   Working from the center out towards the corners, begin stapling every few inches.  

Once you've reached the corners fold the excess fabric on an pulled one side down and then fold over the other and staple on an angle:

I didn't want to faff about with trimming off my longer top & bottom edges so I just folded them under and stapled them in place.

We nailed a sawtooth picture hanger on the back and hung it up.  I added a matching woven basket and trash can to tie things together.  Now it feels more finished. . .

And I've found a great way to enjoy my new favorite fabric panel every day:)

Tutorial Time: Faux Painting Wall Art Using Fabric

Got a space that needs some interesting wall art, but you aren't very artistic? Or don't have that casual/modern look most DIY art tutorials seem to show (Note to DIY people: we don't all have homes that are chevron, wood pallet or bright yellow friendly!)?  Today I'm showing how to use some fabric to make beautiful painting-esque wall art with 3-D details.  And did I mention it's cheap and easy?  

It's got the raised details of a real painting, but didn't require the artistic skills:

Here's a little backstory on my project: we recently had our already textured foyer repainted a nice neutral grey color.  I love the change, but that meant the sage green painting I'd had at the top of the stairs didn't match anymore.  I wanted to add punches of color that coordinated with the adjoining plum walled living room and other accents in the foyer, but I couldn't find anything that worked.  Covering a canvas was an option, but I wanted it to still seem like a painting so here's what I did... 

Materials:
- Large blank canvas (mine was 4' by 3')
- Home decor fabric (I needed 1 1/2 yds)
- Staple gun
- Fabric paint
- Iron

I started by picking out a fun home decor fabric.  The moment I saw this bird print I knew it was The One.  It had all my colors, a soft watercolor print on a canvas fabric.  This meant it would look more like a real painting when hung and less like I was just stapling fabric onto a frame (shhh don't tell okay?):

I also grabbed a blank canvas while I was at the store.  I used a 50% off coupon to get the price down to about $25.  I needed the giant 3 foot by 4 foot size so this piece was a big chunk of the cost. I trimmed my fabric and gave it a good press with the iron.  The crease at the fold of my fabric was super stubborn and would not come out.  Of course, my fabric was "dry clean only"!  The solution?  I carefully misted the backside with a spray bottle and steam pressed it to give that crease the slip.

I laid out the fabric face down and centered the canvas over it.  I checked it multiple times before I started stapling to make sure it was nice & straight.  

Then I pulled the fabric up on one side and began stapling along the frame every couple of inches.  I repeated on the other sides, pulling the fabric as taut as I could while I stapled.

For the corners I pulled one side down and then did a fold over with the other:

I trimmed off the excess fabric and the first phase was done.

I wanted to add some texture and dimension to make this look like a real painting, so I added some fabric paints.  I used a squeeze bottle to do some outlining on a lot of the flowers:

I brushed over a few berries with the paint too and dabbed it to make some raised flower centers as well:



To do the birds' eyes, I used some Beads In A Bottle I had leftover from my Halloween Bats In The Belfry Mobile project.  This stuff makes a metallic faux bead effect and self-rounds so it doesn't have peaks like puff paint usually does.  Just what I needed for my birds:  

The total cost for my faux painting was under $50, which is way less than even the cheapest store bought wall art I could find and this one is exactly the style and colors I wanted.  

I'm really pleased with how it adds some color and visual interest to an otherwise challenging space.  

And it's got some nice dimension when you're up close too:



Now I'm wondering where else I can faux-painting it up in my house;)