DIY Wall Canvas

I knew long ago that I really wanted some kind of flowering tree in the baby's room.  My original plan was just to paint it by hand onto the wall above the Trellis.   Then I started second guessing myself about the whole thing.  What if I love it in my mind right now, but after baby comes and my hormones have settled a little I end up hating it?!  Then I have to sand out the wall so I can repaint.  Didn't sound like much fun to me.  I even thought about doing something in vinyl, but really wanted a more textured look.

Instead, I envisioned breaking it up into three parts and making a continual branch on three separate canvases.

So glad I made that change.  It gave so much dimension to the room, plus it was such a quick project I won't feel bad if my ever-changing hormones change their mind (because they have a mind of their own) about it in a few months. :)  I think it's here to stay though.

I started by buying three wrapped canvases at Hobby Lobby when they were on sale. 
I painted all three with just a single coat of a very pale pink acrylic craft paint.  (it didn't dry as pale as I thought it would, but I'm okay with it.)

After they were dry I brought them into the baby's room and set them end to end, then lightly sketched on what I wanted the branch to look like.

Now, mind you, I'm no artist.  In fact, I'm not even a doodler.  I loved this part of the project though because my dad was definitely a doodler.  His harsh pencil drawings were accidentally artistic.  I can still see his little pictures of cartoonish aliens on our church program each Sunday.  I would try to mimic them, and he would give me tips by redrawing the same thing over and over again, then handing me the pencil to try again. My grandma (his mom) was an amazing artist, and would do little pencil sketches of this and that then just use a thumb tack to stick them up here and there.  I felt like I was channeling their abilities for this because really I have no skill in this area at all.

Next, I just filled in the sketch with a dark brown acrylic paint, using heavy strokes to make it look like bark.

Once that was all on, I just hot glued a bunch of fake flowers on there, and then painted a few more leaves and flowers with a metallic acrylic paint I had on hand.

(Hello! That's me in all my rounded pregnant glory :) )

The end product is even better than I imagined it.  It really is the thing that ties the bedding, trellis walls, and entire room together. 

Here it is laying out on the floor before we hung it.

Here it is, in it's final spot!