DIY Weathered Chevron Canvas {with tutorial}

This Weathered Chevron Canvas has been my little side project for a while now. If you follow my Instagram Feed, you know my recent quest to find out if I could weather canvas. And the verdict is in. YES, YES and YES. Canvas can be weathered {by hand}. You can all breathe a sigh of relief...I know you've been on pins and needles waiting to know. Well, at least my mom has been. 

This was actually a fairly simple project...just needs some considerable drying time between each step. Annnnnd...it only cost me $6 total. 

I often purchase canvases at my Goodwill. Then I just paint over them and do my own thang. Canvases at art stores can be quite pricey...why spend that much when a coat of white paint can make an old one new again? The above was what this looked like when I #PoppedSomeTags {yes, sadly, I kind of like that song...only because it's about my favorite pastime. I don't love the language. But I do like that he bought a broken keyboard. And I did invent that hashtag back in April. It's a thing now. At least, in my mind it is}.

I digress. 

After coating it with just one coat of white acrylic paint, I measured out and lightly penciled lines across it. There was no rhythm to this. I totally stink at any mathematical equation, so I'm not much help there. But I own a crazy awesome art ruler from the one year I was an art major in 1996. It's the one thing I took away from that year that I still use. And it helped me measure these out and space them to work well for the pattern I wanted. 

I used a double width of painters' tape to create my chevron. Then I smoothed my tape out like crazy.  

In order to prevent that annoying seepage, I used my fail-proof trick that I've shown you before. I went back over my tape with more of my white base coat to seal the tape down. Works like a charm. Every. Single. Time. 

{Let's not talk about the fact that I slightly messed up the pattern a bit on this edge in the above photo...I sanded it out later and weathered it up as best I could. Weathering covers a multitude of sins.}

All sealed up. 

After letting the "sealing" paint dry overnight, I used my black acrylic paint on the top to paint the actual chevron on. I accidentally used my gloss kind of acrylic here...it was what I reached for and, honestly, didn't even realize I had it. But, I'm actually pretty okay with the results. The different textures are kind of interesting.

 Peeling the layers is my FAVE.

After peeling all of the tape, I did the thing I thought I couldn't. I sanded canvas, y'all. And it flippin' worked. Like a boss, it did. 

The only regret is not sanding even more. I just took off a bit of paint here and there. And roughed up the edges quite a bit.  

To give it more of an aged look, I brushed some stain all over the canvas and let it sit for ten minutes or so.

Then I wiped it off, just to give it a slightly dirtied up look. 

It's easiest to keep using the same paper towel and wadding and re-wadding it. Once it's nice and soft and somewhat stain-soaked, it's really easy to work the stain around with.  

Super happy with the way it turned out. 

Details, details. 

I'm about to redo the hallway where my kids' bedrooms are located and plan to put this up in there, along with a gallery wall {that's been a long time coming} on the opposite wall.

What are your favorite things to makeover from thrift stores?

{i linky-party here}

and at Coastal Charm and Savvy Southern Style

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