How to Turn a Note or Drawing into Framed Art!

My Son’s Sweet Note

Earlier this summer, I shared how my then four-year-old son, Rowan, randomly surprised me with the sweetest little note. This boy, I tell you what. How did I get so lucky with him??

I thought it might be fun (and wise) to create a more permanent version of this note, especially after his little brother decided to add some scribbles of his own to it (you can see them farther down).

All About The Reverse Canvas!

Like I mentioned, this was another reverse canvas project. I just love ’em, what can I say?

I’ll spare you all the details about them here, but make sure you check out my full reverse canvas tutorial to get a complete rundown on the process for making one!

Supplies

Here’s what I used for this project. I know it looks like a whole lotta stuff, but I already had everything on hand except for the canvas, so woot!

• My son’s sweet love note to me :)
• 5×7 wrapped canvas
• Utility knife
• Acrylic craft paints (mint, royal blue, hot pink, & white)
• Pouring medium
• Disposable cups & stir sticks
• Latex gloves
• Painter’s pyramids
• Catch pan
• Silhouette Cameo
• Pink glitter heat transfer vinyl (HTV)
• Cricut Easy Press ironing mat
• Iron
• Scissors
• Multi-use paper
• Hot glue

Paint Pouring the Frame

I’d be taking care of beautifying the frame first, then move onto creating a decal of my son’s note later while the frame dried.

The first thing I did was remove the canvas from its frame and set it aside (it would be getting its HTV decal in a bit).

I then gave the frame a quick light coat of white paint, then got my paints ready for pouring.

This was my first try at the paint pouring trend, and it was a lot of messy fun! Check out my paint pouring tips for first-timers!

After squirting a little of each paint into its own disposable cup, I added roughly an equal amount of pouring medium into each one (I’m not a fan of measuring so I just eye-balled everything).

The pouring medium not only thins out the paint so it becomes pourable (hence the name), it also keeps each paint independent from others so there’s no mixing. What you get instead are random streaks and blobs of distinct color. The more medium you add, the more the paints stay separate.

After mixing the medium into each of the paints, I started pouring! It was really neat to see the pouring medium go into effect as soon as the different colors started touching.

Once all the colors were added, I picked up the frame from the painter’s pyramids that were holding it up and started giving it little shakes and shimmies to encourage the paint to cover all areas.

You really can’t screw this step up because it’s all just a beautiful, random mess. The paint will do what it wants and create its own design…you just need to help it along!

Cutting Out Rowan’s Note in HTV

In order to get Rowan’s sweet note off of the paper and into my computer, I first snapped a pic of it with my iPhone. Next, I texted it to myself, opened it up on my laptop, saved it to the desktop, then finally, opened it in Silhouette Studio.

This was so I could cut it out as a decal using my Silhouette Cameo and some pink glitter HTV (Rowan knows I love bright pink stuff, and that’s why he drew his message in pink crayon…he’s such a sweet boy).

Once in Silhouette Studio, I used the Trace tool to convert the writing into a cut file…look for a post in the future with more detailed steps of this process!

From there, I did a tiny offset to thicken the lines just a wee bit so it would cut better.

Here’s my final mockup:

After loading a sheet of some pink glitter HTV onto my cutting mat and into my Silhouette Cameo, it was time to cut!

A few moments later, Rowan’s note was cut out as a cute glittery HTV decal!

Not too shabby, eh?

(And notice the extra scribbles that were added by my one-year-old? I swear, that child can get into anything and cause nothing but destruction…)

Applying the HTV Decal to the Canvas

I then grabbed the canvas sheet that was cut off of the wooden frame at the beginning of this project (can you remember that far back?? Ha!), and laid it flat on my ironing mat…hooray for no more cookie sheets!

Next, I placed some multi-use paper overtop and applied the HTV decal using my iron.

Once the HTV was completely adhered to the canvas (it only took a few moments), I sloooowly peeled away the clear transfer sheet.

Attaching the Canvas to the Frame

All that was left was trimming up the canvas with some scissors and attaching it to the back of the frame with a little hot glue!

The Final Note-Turned-Framed-Art!

And here’s how Rowan’s sweet note-turned-framed-art looks in all its glory! I think this is the cutest little thing that I’ve ever seen, but then again, I’m a little biased. ;)

I had so much fun with this project, and not just because I’m a sentimental mommy. The paint pouring process was a lot of fun, and I’m slightly obsessed with making reverse canvases.

It’s always a good day when a project turns out better than you imagine. :)

And here’s how it looks on display in my craft room! I just LOVE seeing this sweet message every time I walk in the room. It melts Momma’s heart daily, for sure.

Now I can keep Rowan’s original note stored away in his baby box so it stays safe and sound (and away from his curious baby brother) while still getting all sappy over his sweetness and adorable handwriting.