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DIY Canvas Goddess Vase

 

If you live in a big city and have a tiny apartment and no money, well then you are like me. I had a lot of this pre primed/ gesso'd (not sure that's a real word, we just used it in art school)
canvas from a failed experiment, so I decided to use it to cover some unsightly jars and cans. The nice thing is, is that the canvas is waterproof, perfect for use with real flowers. Extra bonus is that they store flat for reuse later. This is how I did it:

Supplies:
  •  pre primed canvas
  •  paint
  •  a can or clean jar 
  •  optional, but recommended: paper and pencil for creating the template
  •  mod podge or glue

Tools:
  •  scissors
  •  paint brushes
  •  ruler
  •  tape measure or string
  •  optional: some heavy books for drying the glue/ modpodge flat

1) Measure along the side of the can (I'm just going to use can here on out). Basically you want to measure half of the circumference. Then add at least 1cm so that the canvas can slip on and off with relative ease 








2) In this case half of the circumference was 13cm, plus one, equaling 14cm. To start my template, I used a ruler to drew a straight line on the lower part of the page and in the approximate center, I marked out the distance between 14cm.









3) Measure the height of your can, or place it on your template and mark out the height.









4) Now draw vertical lines marking out the 14 cm. This will be your guide: the14 cm in the middle is the area that will be curved around the jar, anything beyond the 14cm in the center will be on the sides








5) If you intend to draw faces, I suggest you draw a center line/ dashes








6) Sketch out your design.








7) Because you will need to make 2 separate halves for the can (front and back of the jar), fold you design in half and cut out.







8) Now you should have a perfect symmetrically shaped pattern. The design does not need to be symmetrical, but the shape does have to be.







9) Using the paper template, trace out the outline twice with pencil. Then proceed to pencil in your design (ignore the vertical guides you drew for the layout). It may feel like a lot of drawing, but trust me, it helps if you pre plan the basic layout ahead of time. If you look closely at my designs below, are not exact matches for each side - and that's okay.







10) Once you have completed penciling your design for both sides, cut them out - at this stage you just need to loosely cut out the pieces, so it's easier to maneuver with when painting. For my canvases I used black for the main lines (upper canvas below), and then when in with a watery grey for simple shading (lower canvas below).









11) once the paint is dry, you can now go in and cut along your design, so that the 2 side line up perfectly back to back.

12) Grab your template again, and now spread a thin layer of mod podge or glue to the sides of the canvas, on the back of each piece. Do not spread any glue in the center 14cm.







13) Using the bottom edge, line up the canvases back to back (design will face out on each side). You may want to take a plastic card and "squeegee" out excess glue, just be sure each motion is going from the center, out to the sides. Let dry (you can place under a stack of books if you want it very flat - just mind the glue.

14) Once dry, slip over your jar.



















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