Halloween Burlap Art – Teach Me Tuesday

Anyone love a rainy day as much as I do?  Yesterday it rained all day and I got so much done.  I think I feel guilty when it is nice outside that I am not outside doing things. But when it rains, I have every reason to stay inside and get some things done.  Oh and a little nap doesn’t hurt on a rainy day either.  I have been working hard on some burlap covered canvas art for an upcoming craft show I am participating in this month.  I thought I would show you how to make your own Halloween Burlap Art for today’s Teach Me Tuesday.

These are a couple little pieces I have been creating for the show.  They are super easy and so cute!  They are great on a bookshelf, on a table, as a hostess or teacher’s gift or even hung by a ribbon on your front door.  Here are the easy steps:

1.  Cut a piece of burlap about 2 inches wider than your canvas.  Burlap is very inexpensive and can be found at Joann’s any time of year.  This canvas is a 10×10 so my fabric is about 12×12.

2.  Wrap the burlap one side at a time and staple with a staple gun.  Burlap is stretchy so you need to really pull to keep it tight and take out the wrinkles.  I have to admit – I am not crazy about the feel of burlap and working with it so much these last couple weeks has given me “burlap” fingers since it is so rough.  I do love the way it looks, however.

3.  Wrap the remaining sides like a package.  This is a tiny bit tricky with the burlap because it has so much give – yet it is thin.  I always get a few lumps on top that I fix with some additional staples.  I know this looks like overkill with so many staples, but again, because of the “give” of the fabric, it is necessary.

4.  Now you have a blank burlap canvas to work with.  Sorry about the shadow – missed it when I took the picture.

5.  Place your stencil on the canvas where you want to place your ghost or bat.  I use a little Frog Tape to hold my stencil in place.

6.  Use white (ghost) or black (bat) acrylic paint and a foam stencil dauber.  You can get these stencil daubers at any craft store.

7.  Dip your brush lightly in the paint.  Dab around the edges of your stencil first until you have completed your outline.

8.  Then fill in the middle of your stencil.

 

9.  Remove stencil and let paint dry.

10.  Measure out a piece of ribbon around the outside of your canvas.  The staples that I used to take down the lumps will be hidden by the ribbon.

11.  I put this picture in here to remind you to turn on your glue gun.  I also wanted to show you a little tip I received from my friend at Three Monkeez.  Use a terra cotta plant saucer to hold your glue gun.  I used to use a paper plate and the gun would stick to it.  I like this idea a lot!  You could even pick off the glue if you wanted to … I say why bother – it looks crafty!

12.  Press out a line of hot glue across the sides of your canvas – one side at a time.  You can then place the ribbon right on top of the strip of glue and gently press it down.

13.  Add a couple of googly eyes with hot glue to give your ghost some personality!

TA-DA!  A cute little burlap covered canvas with Halloween art!  This picture shows what a mess it is to work with burlap, so be sure to cover up your work area with a drop cloth or newspaper.

 

Here is the finished ghost canvas and below is the finished bat project.  Same steps for the bat except, of course, use a bat stencil and black paint.  Duh!

Which do you like better?  Oh and remember, if you don’t want to tackle this project yourself, I am willing to sacrifice my fingers being burned from hot glue and rubbed raw from burlap, just for you.   I am selling the finished product and other burlap art at a wonderful fall craft show on October 18th.  If you are in the Atlanta area and are interested in more information, just leave me a comment and I will send you a flyer!

Hope your life is more burlap art heaven than burlap fingers havoc!

Missi
I am linked up at these great parties this week: