I’ve always loved to craft-whether it was drawing with big Crayola chalk all over my driveway or colorfully displaying my life through a few scrapbooks. I love throwing together DIY projects on the weekends, like the old shutters with vines through them, or decorating wine glasses for cute gifts. I think a “homemade” gift is more personal than anything you could buy in a store and it also is so relaxing for me to just lay on the floor with glue-covered hands, Jason Mraz playing off my laptop, and the smell of paint floating through the air.
So, this winter break I decided to get into a new craft…canvas painting! 
I’ve always loved to decorate canvas, but have always done so with some Sharpie markers. Right before break started, I stumbled upon a paint set on clearance for about $25. One of the best $25 I’ve ever spent because it opened up the door to my new favorite craft!
My first one was a police officer which I painted for my dad. I found a picture online of somewhat similar to what I painted and decided to just go for it. It came out great so I kept going. By the way, I gave that to him for Christmas and he loved it! Next I tackled a Mickey and Minnie Mouse for my mom’s Christmas gift. If you know my mom, you know her obsession with Disney. Every corner of our house you can find a little bit of Disney. She loved them too!
Then, once I received an offer from EMC and realized I would be moving out of my house and into my own apartment, I realized how poor I was. So what did I do other than purchase more paints. Unfortunately these were not on clearance but I did have coupons! I realized how expensive it is going to be to be living on my own but I also knew how I wanted my place to be “me”-so that no matter how much money I do not have, I can walk into my 
“home” and be happy because it was my own place which I put my hard work into. Sooooo I started painting quotes and such to hang around my apartment.
A lot of the designs are either from Pinterest or inspired by something which I saw on Pinterest. For example, the purple quote above is from Pinterest but the Martini quote to the left was simply inspired through Pinterest and then my creative juices began to flow.
I absolutely love doing this. I think next year in my spare time I will continue to paint and possibly begin to sell them on Etsy!
As for now, if you want me to paint a canvas for you let me know! They make awesome gifts and look super cute hung up on a wall. I have not figured out how much I will charge (estimating from $3-$20+ depending on size and design) but if you are interested in me making you something, we can talk about it :)
In the beginning, trying to get the strokes just right when making letters or words was so hard but I’ve gotten better! It’s still something I am working on though.
Tagged: canvas, canvas paintings, canvas quotes, crafts, diy, pinterest 
