This post contains affiliate links which means, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. In other words, I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using any of these links. This allows me to continue to create quality content for all of you awesome mommies out there!

DIY Canvas Signs

Have you ever seen those beautiful signs in stores or online shops, but thought the price was too
expensive or it just wasn’t the right style? I found a simple way to make your own DIY canvas
sign! The Christmas after our eldest was born, I found a cute sign online that read, “The Best
Mothers Get Promoted to Grandmother” and another sign that read “The Best Grandmothers Get
Promoted to Great Grandmother.”  With my luck, I found it too late and didn’t have enough time
to ship it in time for Christmas. I set out to find a way to make it myself because it was just too
cute to pass up.
At first, I thought I would need to build a wooden sign, stain it, and paint the saying on it.  With
an 8-month-old, I didn’t have time to do all of that.  So, I had to come up with a quick and
relatively cheap solution.  I took a trip to the craft store, found a white canvas, and decided to
paint the saying myself.  Below are the steps I used to create this beautiful sign that our
grandmothers and great-grandmothers seem to love.

 

Supplies you will need

• Canvas in the size of your choosing – I used a 5′ x 7′ white canvas
• 2 colors of acrylic paint  – One is for the background and the other will be the main color of your canvas.  I picked up my colors at a local Jo-Ann craft store
• Sticky letters or paper letters in a font of your liking
  • Sticky letters have a more limited selection and paper letters will need to be taped
    down so pick your poison
• Double sided tape or a paper craft tape runner (only for paper letters)
• Tweezers – FYI they will get paint on them
• Ruler or straight edge
• 2 foam brushes

TIPS before you start:

• Be sure you have enough letters for the word you want to spell.  I used a Cricket cutting
  machine to create my letters.
• Choose letters based on shape/font and size. Don’t worry about the color of the lettering.
• If you are using paper letters, make sure none of the tape is showing when you tape the letters down to the canvas.  It will leave a tape shape when you put your paint down and pull the letters up.
• Even if you want to have a white background, I would recommend having white paint to ensure you don’t end up with something that looks like the picture below.

 

Directions for paper letters

1. Place your letters onto your canvas and work on spacing before sticking them down.  Use your ruler to keep the letters straight and space then out as needed.
2. Once your letters are where they need to be, tape them using the double-sided tape.
   
3. Using the foam brush, dab the background paint color over the entire canvas and allow it to dry.
   • This will ensure your other paint will not bleed under the letters and your canvas color with be uniform.
4. Once dry, use your second foam brush to slowly dab the rest of the canvas including the sides.
   
5. Use the tweezers to remove the letters from your canvas.
   
6. Finally, allow time to completely dry and enjoy your new DIY canvas sign!
   

 

 

Directions for sticker letters

1. Place your letters onto your canvas. Use your ruler to keep the letters straight.
   
2. Using the foam brush, dab the background paint color over the entire canvas and allow it to dry.
   • This will ensure your other paint will not bleed under the letters and your canvas color will be uniform.
     
3. Once dry, use your second foam brush to slowly dab the rest of the canvas including the sides.
   
4. Use the tweezers to remove the letters from your canvas.
   
5. Finally, allow time to completely dry and enjoy your new DIY canvas sign!
   

 

Different background color

1. Using a foam brush, dab your canvas with the background paint color of your choosing.
2. Allow to dry before following the steps above for either paper letters or sticker letters.

My DIY canvas signs looks like this… Now what?

Option 1: Use a small paint brush to fill in where your letters should be with your background color

Option 2: Cut out the outline of the letters you used and place them on the canvas.  This will create a letter stencil.  You can then repeat steps 3 to 6.

Option 3: Take a picture and title it, “Nailed It” and then try again! I would love to see your “Nailed It” pictures as well as your finished products.

 

You have your cute DIY canvas signs, now how do you hang it?

I love using command picture hanging strips.Giving this sign as a gift?  Make it extra special with a DIY tape gift bow.

Print Directions with Pictures

Print Directions without Pictures

Did you like creating a DIY canvas sign? Leave a comment and perhaps a picture of your finished sign! I would love to see them.