DIY: Glitter Canvas

Story by Megan Henry

Everyone loves canvas paintings. They can be as creative as the artist wants, yet they are simple to decorate. Whether it’s for the holidays or your own dorm room, painting a canvas allows you to express your thoughts and feelings in an artistic way.

Supplies needed:

  • 2 different colors of acrylic paint
  • 1 plain white canvas (any size)
  • Large paint brush
  • Small paint brush
  • Glitter
  • Hairspray

Steps:

Step one: Using the large brush, paint the canvas a solid background color. Make sure the paint is completely dry before proceeding to the next step.

Step two: Take the second color of paint and the small brush to write “live long and prosper,” or whatever words you choose, and sprinkle glitter over the letters before the paint has a chance to dry. You can either fill up the entire canvas with the quote or leave space to add more details later.

Let the canvas dry.

Step three: Above the quote I chose to paint/glitter a silhouette of a dachshund. Other images could work. For instance any abstract swirls, flowers, arrows, practically anything you wanted could be added to the canvas to add a little more detail.

Step four: Dump off any excess glitter and spray the entire canvas with hairspray to help secure the glitter to the paint. Keep the hairspray a decent distance away from the canvas, or else it will smear the paint.

Step five: Let everything dry

Helpful tips:

1. If you’re having difficulties with the lettering, either write out the phrase in pencil and then trace over it with paint, or type the phrase and print off a copy of it to cut out the letters and trace them onto the canvas.

2. This type of canvas can be made as simple, or as extravagant as you’d like. Ideas to add more detail would include (but aren’t limited to): painting a design on the sides of the canvas, adding tribal print or any other abstract art, and using multiple different colors rather than two.