Use DecoArt's Americana® Decou-Page™ to bring your travels (real or imagined) home on wall canvases.

SUPPLIES

• water container
• paper towels
• 1" chip brush
• fine-grit sandpaper
• X-Acto® knife
• hammer
• four 8" x 10" canvases
• 11-3/4" x 36" travel poster
• four large sawtooth hangers
• yardstick or ruler
• four finishing nails

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Using X-Acto Knife and yardstick or ruler, cut travel poster into four 7-7/8" x 9-7/8" pieces. (Overall, you'll be using only about 10" x 32" of poster and trimming the rest, so consider that when choosing design and cutting pieces.)
2. Using 1" chip brush, paint all four 8" x 10" canvases Mississippi Mud. Apply second coat if necessary; clean brush with soap and water. Allow canvases to dry completely.
3. Use 1" chip brush to apply thin layer of Decou-Page (your choice of matte or gloss) to front of one canvas. Press one of poster pieces on canvas and smooth it onto canvas from front and back. (Poster may bubble or wave, but keep smoothing it poster onto canvas to minimize ripples and remove any air pockets. Ripples should lessen when Decou-Page dries completely.) Repeat for remaining three canvases and allow to dry completely.
4. Apply two coats of Decou-Page over surface of posters and on sides of canvases to protect and seal poster pieces.
5. Use emery board or fine-grit sandpaper to bevel edges of each poster and to distress edges of posters and canvases. (Don't be afraid to remove surface of poster or even to sand through canvas. It'll grab distressing paint and provide an interesting, antique texture to project.)
6. Using 1" chip brush, dry-brush Bittersweet Chocolate on edges of canvases and outer edges of each poster to create grungy, distressed look. Allow to dry completely.
7. Using emery boards, lightly re-sand edges of canvases and posters to allow some of background to show through grunge distress.
8. Apply final, thin coat of Decou-Page over the entire surface of the canvases using the same crosshatch motion with brush. Allow to dry completely.
9. Center a sawtooth hanger on the back of each canvas frame and nail into place for hanging.
10. Nail four finishing nails in wall where you want to hang the artwork, measuring 9.5" vertically between each nail.

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