DIY Gallery Wrap

Hey! Long time no blog. As of late, life has been crazy. Dealing with depression is no joke (more on that later). But I finally found the motivation to do things I once enjoyed.

ANYWAY!

Without further to do...

I bring you a DIY gallery wrap tutorial. There's about a thousand tutorials on this subject, BUT this is my version.

Materials:

-un-stretchered printed canvas. Artscow sometimes has a sale and are generally cheap. They are based out of China, so it does take forever and a day to get your printed item (and sometimes not the highest quality), but you a) get it for cheap b) cheap

-stretcher bars in correct size of your canvas. Again, this is probably not the highest quality. But whatever. If you are unsure about the size you need, just google, "stretcher bar size for blahblah size canvas". You can make your own, but that's more work than I wanted to do. 

-staple gun and staples.

-blanket/sheet. To protect the canvas as it will be upside down on the floor/table.

Optional, but makes this project easier:

-needle nose pliers OR gallery wrap pliers.

-staple remover. You might mess up.

Do it: 

-Assemble stretcher bars. I had to sand/cut some corners so they were not so sharp and they didn't match up...this is a quality issue as I get cheap bars. The bars will likely come bundled together. They will look like this...

-Lay out the towel, put canvas face down on said towel. Place assembled frame/bars in the center of the upside down canvas

-Staple one side of the canvas and than the opposite side to keep the canvas from sliding around as you pull/staple (see up-coming steps if you are confused)

-Starting on one edge, staple the canvas and pull your way around the frame. I used my fingers to pull, but you can use pliers. Trust when I say pull and then staple each and every. time. you staple. You want the canvas to be tight. The end result should be if you flick the canvas (on the face/picture side), it should sound like a drum. If you don't pull every single time, the canvas will end up a bit saggy.

For now, leave the corners alone

 -Pull and staple every half inch or so. Don't worry about making the stapling pretty. You are not a professional :)

-The last thing to do: Staple the corners, "like a present." So they say. Make sure the canvas is parallel to the stretcher...just makes it more pretty.

NOT parallel/straight with frame, I decided to deal with :)

Fold the little flap over and staple 

Finished product:

From our cruise last Summer. The first thing I saw of Ketchikan, AK  when I woke up. Taken from the balcony of our cabin.

Now do this 2 more times and you got yourself some fancy wall art!