Christmas Carol Art {Tutorial}

A few weeks ago Natalie from Johnny in a Dress invited me to post for her Christmas tutorials round up. Here is my original post from Johnny in a Dress. I have really enjoyed these hanging in my kitchen this season!!

I am so excited to be here at Johnny in a Dress today to share with you how to make my

{Distressed Christmas Carol Art}

I'm Jenilyn, author of Grits & Giggles, my DIY and creative outlet. I am a Laboratory Scientist by trade, but my real love is being a wife and mommy!

Let's get started!

Materials:

8"x10" canvas (as many as you want, I used 2)

Fabric paint

Printed Christmas Carol Lyrics (more on this later)

Ribbon

Gel Medium (found at craft stores in the paint section)

First, paint your canvases a background color with fabric paint. They can be any color that you want to fit your Christmas/holiday decor, but make sure it's not too dark. You want black print to show up on it.

Using a pencil, lightly stencil or freehand a design on the canvas. This will be a guideline for painting.

Using fabric paint, fill in your design. Remember that you'll have print over it, so don't go too over the top with a beautiful and ornate image, because some of the image will be covered.

I did a ball wreath and a simple Christmas Tree.

Now you need your Christmas Carols.

Here are some notes:

You must print them Backwards. You will be transfering them face down, so they must be reversed on paper to be right on the canvas.

Use a printer or copier with TONER. You must use toner to get a transfer. Ink will not work.

Use the cheapest paper possible to print your text. No cardstock or photo paper, just the cheap white stuff is perfect.

Here are the two carols I used:

Jingle Bells

Deck the Halls

Feel free to use these or create your own!

Here is where we use our Gel Medium

Once all of your paint is dry, brush a generous, but thin layer of gel onto your canvas.

Lightly spritz one of your carol papers with water and lay it writing side down onto the gel. Use a credit card or your fingers to get out any air bubbles. Let these dry overnight.

Once they're dry, spritz the paper with water until it's a little see through.

Now comes the fun part....start rolling the paper off! Use your finger or a sponge to lightly pull and roll the paper off of the canvas. You'll see the print stays on the canvas! The harder you rub, the more likely you are to remove some of the print, so be careful. I like mine "distressed" so I always rub into a few letters.

It can take several steps to remove all of the paper. Just keep rewetting and rolling until you have most of it removed. It takes me 5-6 times.

Once your canvases have dried, apply a thin coat of the gel medium to seal everything in and give it a shiny finish.

I made two canvases, so I wanted to connect them for hanging. Use hot glue to attach ribbon to the back of your canvases to connect them.

Then apply a loop of ribbon for hanging to the top of your canvas.

Hang, and ENJOY!

Thanks again to Natalie for having me over today! I've enjoyed sharing some Christmas crafting joy with Ya'll. Come on over to Grits & Giggles to check out other DIY ideas in our Tutorials section. There's lots of great ideas for Simple Christmas Gifts, Sewing Clothing, and Party Decor.

*Merry Christmas Ya'll*